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Man Threatened Company With Cyber Attack To Fire Employee and Hire Him Instead (bleepingcomputer.com)

An anonymous reader writes: A North Carolina judge sentenced a Washington man this week to 37 months in prison for threatening a company with attacks unless they fire one of their employees and hire him instead. According to court documents obtained by Bleeping Computer, on April 18, 2016, Todd Michael Gori sent an email to TSI Healthcare, a healthcare software vendor based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Gori, a 28-year-old resident of Wenatchee, Washington, threatened the company with cyber attacks by him and unnamed friends if the company did not fire one of its employees and hire him instead.

"I am giving you, TSI healthcare two choices," Gori wrote in the email. "You either lay-off [identity redacted] and replace her with me, an operator 100x better that she is oppressing. Or I will take out your entire company along with my comrades via a cyber attack. Again you have two choices. Get ride of her and hire me. Or slowly be chipped away at until you are gone. She is a horrible operator that can only manage 2 screens with an over inflated travel budget. I fly at least 10x as many places as this loon on 1/5th of the budget," the email reads. "I have petitioned for a job with you guys with her as a reference as I am a felon with computer skills and need assistance getting work as technically I have 'no work history'. She declines everytime and burries me even further."

64 of 151 comments (clear)

  1. What? It's not April 1 yet by I'm+New+Around+Here · · Score: 1

    That has to be a joke. No one could be that stupid. Right?

    Apparently I have too high of an opinion of humanity.

    --
    If you think I voted for Trump because of this post, you're wrong. I voted for Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party. Again.
    1. Re:What? It's not April 1 yet by gweihir · · Score: 4, Interesting

      The problem is not the stupid, although that is impressive. The problem is the completely unwarranted inflated sense of his own skills. A Dunning-Kruger example case.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    2. Re:What? It's not April 1 yet by Krishnoid · · Score: 1

      You either lay-off [identity redacted] and replace her with me, an operator 100x better that she is oppressing. ...
      I fly at least 10x as many places as this loon on 1/5th of the budget,

      Unwar*anted perhaps, but at least he's trying to be quantifiable. They should at least give him the chance to show his work in getting those numbers.

      * 'r' removed to make up for the extra one in TFS

    3. Re:What? It's not April 1 yet by prefec2 · · Score: 1, Insightful

      He is not trustworthy. I will not employ a person with a questionable character. No company wants that (except from the upper management). Interestingly the US population thought a narcissist asshole with limited intellect but unlimited self-interest will be beneficial for the country.

    4. Re:What? It's not April 1 yet by PPH · · Score: 2, Funny

      Well, he is upper management.

      QED.

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
    5. Re:What? It's not April 1 yet by nuckfuts · · Score: 2

      Could have used a link for the Dunning-Kruger reference. I'd never heard of it before. Now I know how to describe a certain politician.

    6. Re:What? It's not April 1 yet by nospam007 · · Score: 5, Funny

      "He is not trustworthy. I will not employ a person with a questionable character."

      Fuck the character. I'm a grammar-Nazi and I wouldn't hire him for that reason alone.

    7. Re:What? It's not April 1 yet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Indeed, because the RUSSIANS metalled in the elections

      Absolutely, Trump definitely alloyed with them.

    8. Re:What? It's not April 1 yet by techdolphin · · Score: 1

      "...[A]n operator 100x better that she is..." If somebody else had not been convicted of this, I would have thought it was Donald Trump. He makes a boast that cannot be proven or is not true. If it was Trump, he could have been trying to get a job in case he has to leave his current one early.

    9. Re:What? It's not April 1 yet by ChrisMaple · · Score: 1

      It's summer at the South pole. Go for it, and take your friends.

      --
      Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
    10. Re:What? It's not April 1 yet by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 1

      You either lay-off [identity redacted] and replace her with me, an operator 100x better that she is oppressing. ... I fly at least 10x as many places as this loon on 1/5th of the budget,

      Unwar*anted perhaps, but at least he's trying to be quantifiable. They should at least give him the chance to show his work in getting those numbers.

      I'd like to know how he flies 10x as many places on 1/5th the budget - is he also a travel agent, own a plane, sleep in his rental car? Also how is *she* oppressing him - as opposed to the company? [ Can't wait to hear his justifications for better treatment from his fellow inmates in prison. ]

      --
      It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
    11. Re:What? It's not April 1 yet by gweihir · · Score: 1

      Sorry. I see so much application of it that I tend to forget it is still somewhat obscure. Thanks for posting the link yourself.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    12. Re:What? It's not April 1 yet by fredrated · · Score: 2, Informative

      Actually, the us population picked Hillary. elites of the electoral college pick the orangutan.

    13. Re: What? It's not April 1 yet by nitehawk214 · · Score: 2

      Lots of people think they are experts on the Dunning-Kruger effect.

      --
      I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
    14. Re:What? It's not April 1 yet by siamesevodka · · Score: 1

      Just think, in about 35 months he can tell other prisons about his impressive skills at making license plates.

    15. Re: What? It's not April 1 yet by nuckfuts · · Score: 1

      Good one :)

    16. Re:What? It's not April 1 yet by SuricouRaven · · Score: 1

      The electoral college exists because, when the country was formed, less--populous states knew very well that giving all citizens equal say would result in their minority voice getting overpowered by the much greater numbers who would disagree with them. We have a word for this: We call it 'democracy.'

    17. Re: What? It's not April 1 yet by houghi · · Score: 1

      No, the people picked him through a process. If you do not like that process, change it.

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    18. Re:What? It's not April 1 yet by Spamalope · · Score: 1

      We have a word for this: We call it 'democracy.'

      Unless we've been to a better school. Then we call it Republic, or representative republic if we're more pedantic.

    19. Re:What? It's not April 1 yet by I'm+New+Around+Here · · Score: 1

      I agree with your viewpoint. I think we should immediately disband the institution that lets those states have equal representation, at the expense of true democracy. We should fold the House of Representatives and the Senate into one chamber, with the current members each simply having one vote apiece. Of course, the filibuster rule would be abolished too, since that allows the minority population to prevent the majority from having a vote.

      Yes comrade, I like this new equal representation you advocate. Please help me in spreading your idea until it is put into effect by this spring.

      --
      If you think I voted for Trump because of this post, you're wrong. I voted for Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party. Again.
    20. Re:What? It's not April 1 yet by I'm+New+Around+Here · · Score: 1

      Ten times as many at one fifth the price, eh?

      --
      If you think I voted for Trump because of this post, you're wrong. I voted for Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party. Again.
    21. Re:What? It's not April 1 yet by SuricouRaven · · Score: 1

      The bicameral system was based upon the English house of commons and house of lords, but adapted to a representative democracy. The idea is to provide some more stability to government - the senators stick around. Otherwise you'd end up with a government constantly in flux, as a new party takes over every few years and sets about burning down everything the last accomplished.

      Actually, it doesn't sound like it works after all.

    22. Re:What? It's not April 1 yet by powerlord · · Score: 1

      Indeed, because the RUSSIANS metalled in the elections

      Absolutely, Trump definitely alloyed with them.

      I'm completely in favor of Alloying Trump and some Russians. Tell you what though ... if we Smelt him first and mix in some Tin I'm pretty sure we get his Bronzer to become Brass.

      --
      This space for rent. All reasonable inquiries will be entertained at proprietors discretion.
    23. Re: What? It's not April 1 yet by cyber-vandal · · Score: 1

      Carbonite him so Putin can hang him on a wall in the Kremlin.

    24. Re:What? It's not April 1 yet by CanadianMacFan · · Score: 1

      Don't put down the next US president. After he gets out he has plenty of time to get a campaign going for 2024.

    25. Re:What? It's not April 1 yet by CanadianMacFan · · Score: 1

      I was wondering why he wanted to take out his comrades if he didn't get the job. I thought if anything that they might have helped him.

  2. No work history, but 100x better? by jfdavis668 · · Score: 1

    Not sure how he got 100x better than her, with no work history.

    1. Re:No work history, but 100x better? by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 4, Funny

      Not sure how he got 100x better than her, with no work history.

      He may have been exaggerating, but even if he is really only 10x better, he would still be a great employee.

      He is likely very good, since he clearly doesn't waste time on silly trivialities like grammar, spelling, and coherent thinking, leaving more time to get important stuff done.

    2. Re:No work history, but 100x better? by prefec2 · · Score: 1

      He is obviously unable to understand social conventions. Therefore, he is not able to work with others. Thus he can either become US president or stay out of any other office where he has to compromise. That is stay unemployed. Instead of sending him to prison, they should send him into a mental institution helping him to grow up and become a productive part of society.

    3. Re:No work history, but 100x better? by lucm · · Score: 1

      He is obviously unable to understand social conventions.

      I suspect he is also unable to understand sarcasm.

      --
      lucm, indeed.
    4. Re:No work history, but 100x better? by CanadianMacFan · · Score: 1

      Well, they don't let you count what landed you in jail as work history, now do they?

  3. Umm, yeah by Rick+Zeman · · Score: 2

    "Sure, I'll hire you because you've proven yourself to be so ethical..."

    Snort. That's as moronic as the guy who just tried to rob a bank by writing the note on one of his checks...and then leaving it with the teller.

    1. Re:Umm, yeah by gweihir · · Score: 1

      The number of people that are really incapable but think they have it all figured out is apparently on the raise. Sure, most humans have been idiots throughout history, but whether they know it or think themselves some kind of genius is more environment-dependent. I guess we are seeing the front of the wave of children that have all been told they are special.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    2. Re:Umm, yeah by I'm+New+Around+Here · · Score: 1

      The teller wasn't the one who arrested the guy. Plus the teller may have read the name off the check back to him, just to make sure Mr. Robber wants to make that withdrawal.

      --
      If you think I voted for Trump because of this post, you're wrong. I voted for Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party. Again.
    3. Re:Umm, yeah by sconeu · · Score: 2

      The first rule of Dunning-Kreuger club is you do not know that you are in Dunning-Kreuger club

      --
      General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
    4. Re:Umm, yeah by gweihir · · Score: 1

      True. Stupid and knowing it is not really stupid anymore as it allows you to compensate.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    5. Re:Umm, yeah by gweihir · · Score: 1

      Google says 115M to 2M, so it clearly is an upcoming new way to write it...

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    6. Re:Umm, yeah by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      They are both words but grammar matters too. Look up the context and admit it when you are wrong, don't double down on "alternative facts".
      "on the rise" -> 8.4M
      "on the raise" -> 1.9M

    7. Re:Umm, yeah by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      The first Nigerian scam email I received mentioned that I was known to be honest and trustworthy, and therefore ideal for their illegal scheme. It amused me.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  4. Seems like a smart guy. by orlanz · · Score: 3, Interesting

    He is a ex-felon and this having trouble getting a job. So he comes up with an idea to get back in jail, picking on a company who declined his resume a few times.

    He did not seem to have hurt anyone, but only threatened them (with gun violence too). And he got 3 years worth of meals on the tax payers dime.

    Mission accomplished?

    1. Re:Seems like a smart guy. by dissy · · Score: 2

      He did not seem to have hurt anyone, but only threatened them (with gun violence too). And he got 3 years worth of meals on the tax payers dime.
      Mission accomplished?

      Even there he failed at being efficient at the task.

      He could have just wrote to the parole board the first time that he hates humanity and wants let out early to get a head start on making everyone pay.

      Then he wouldn't have had this period of unemployment to solve, all while still seeming like the go-getter he claims to be!

  5. Prison vs Hospital vs Us @ /. by dschnur · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Without any other supporting evidence, It seems like there are some mental deficits in play. I'm not even going to grace the preceding statement by calling it a hypothesis, however, on the surface it looks like the only reason the story is relevant to /. is because the label "cyber" has been attached to a generic threat from a person who might be better off in an in-patient care facility instead of prison.

  6. "She declines everytime and burries me ..." by Viol8 · · Score: 1

    Yeah, I wonder why? Blackmail a company over a gripe and tell them exactly who you are as well. I mean thats just savant level criminal genius, right?

    1. Re:"She declines everytime and burries me ..." by PPH · · Score: 1

      But she can operate a spell checker.

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
    2. Re: "She declines everytime and burries me ..." by Millennium · · Score: 1

      So has he stalked her from company to company, or is he just stalking her at the one? Either way, it sounds like he's not just a felon, he'a also a creep.

  7. Re:Fucking Todd by oddtodd · · Score: 2

    you could say it's an odd name...

    --
    I have plenty of common sense, I just choose to ignore it. -- Calvin
  8. Huh? by Freischutz · · Score: 1

    Man Threatened Company With Cyber Attack To Fire Employee and Hire Him Instead

    I find myself lacking words that can adequately describe just how stupid that idea is.

  9. Re:Sound reasoning by I'm+New+Around+Here · · Score: 1, Insightful

    I think that every healthcare company in the country should hire an illiterate extorting felon to manage their sensitive information and fire the literate. Can't imagine where he got the idea (cough Trump cough).

    Your brain is so small you can't remember Hillary's top secret email server, managed at about that level of security. cough cough cough cough cough (that's just Hillary having another coughing fit)

    --
    If you think I voted for Trump because of this post, you're wrong. I voted for Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party. Again.
  10. Re:Fucking Todd by I'm+New+Around+Here · · Score: 1

    But it's not a banana nana fo fana name like Chuck.

    --
    If you think I voted for Trump because of this post, you're wrong. I voted for Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party. Again.
  11. Makes us all look bad by ErichTheRed · · Score: 1

    I've been doing IT work for over 20 years, and all this time it has been an uphill battle to get our chosen field taken seriously. People like this are a big contributor to the problem IMO. I could definitely see offshore outsourcing firms using examples like this as scare tactics when trying to take over a company's IT department. "Mr. Executive, our loyal staff will do the needful 24/7 with zero complaints and zero chance of your company ending up in the news like this." -- or something like that.

    I think there's a lot of executives and other decision-makers who think the BOFH stories are a how-to manual for IT guys and don't trust that we won't go rogue om them. The guy who wrote that email, quite frankly, sounds like a butthurt nerd living in Mom's basement whining about how he wasn't chosen for a job. It's true that a lot of us don't derive extreme pleasure from socializing, me included, but most of us have figured out how to not come off as a total idiot like this guy.

    The only silver lining I can see from the Great Consolidation to the Cloud coming up is that sysadmins/DevOps guys left on site are going to have to be even more engaged with the people they're supporting. Unless the trend totally reverses itself, and I only see it speeding up, it's going to be very hard to be the lone guy in the data center or lone developer locked in your office.

  12. Desperation. by WolfgangVL · · Score: 2

    All these comments are cracking at how incredibly stupid this guy is. I read incredibly desperate.

    It's all smiles and wit when we talk about wealth in the USA, eat the rich, French revolution... ect.

    Here is a real example of a skilled worker being excluded from the work force on account of Felon status. Keep sitting back and watching with your 5 dollar coffee and cable TV folks. Might as well heat up the popcorn while your at it. Expect more of this sort of thing.

    I wonder how many times a year this sort of thing happens in the non-tech sector. This dude is going back to prison, and his family just learned what side of the coin their really on.

    People are getting desperate. People are getting more hungry, and people are getting violent. Those people doing the excluding? Their buying the land and driving up the COL everywhere while looking down their noses at everybody else and trying to figure out "the homeless problem"

    We're on the express train to desperate violence folks. Look around at the world. Step outside your little bubble and actually look at whats going on. This guy aint stupid. He's desperate, and so are MANY more.

    When the shoe finally drops, it's going to be something to behold.

    --
    You are being ripped off every second of every day, so that advertisers can help rip you off even more tomorrow.
    1. Re:Desperation. by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      TLDR

      No. He's just stupid.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    2. Re:Desperation. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Desperate and stupid are not mutually exclusive.

    3. Re:Desperation. by lucm · · Score: 1

      Step outside your little bubble and actually look at whats going on. This guy aint stupid. He's desperate, and so are MANY more.

      What about the lady he stalked and tried to get fired? The one who is not a felon and who did nothing wrong? Maybe you're the one who needs to step outside your little bubble.

      --
      lucm, indeed.
    4. Re:Desperation. by SuricouRaven · · Score: 1

      He can be both. It is true that felons have great difficulty in finding employment. They have to disclose to any employer that they are a felon, and in almost all cases this results in their application being instantly thrown in the trash - plenty of people looking for work with a clean record. Unless they have a personal friend who will pull a few strings for them, chances of getting into employment are slim. Is it any surprise that some of them conclude they have no choice but to return to crime to support themselves?

      This particular felon, however, doesn't seem to have the aptitude to be a successful career criminal. Perhaps that is why he got caught, twice. He is both desperate and stupid.

    5. Re:Desperation. by The+Evil+Atheist · · Score: 1

      They're the ones who voted for the situation to continue, despite the rest of us trying to tell them voting for tax cuts for the rich won't help them get rich. Maybe they should start listening and stop betting on winning the lottery and avoiding the tax.

      --
      Those who do not learn from commit history are doomed to regress it.
  13. Reply to KenM's mentally-deficient little brother: by UncleTogie · · Score: 1

    Funny, I'm a white guy at work, and I'm surrounded by a diverse workforce. It's almost as if we were hired on our ability to perform tech support...

    But hey, keep blaming other people for your inability to perform. I get paid for reading it either way.

    --
    Don't tell me to get a life. I'm a gamer; I have LOTS of lives!
  14. He got caught? by AndyKron · · Score: 1

    I'm surprised this didn't work. Where did Todd slip up?

  15. Re:Reply to KenM's mentally-deficient little broth by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 1

    But hey, keep blaming other people for your inability to perform.

    Perhaps he's a Republican. :-)

    --
    It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
  16. It’s a symptom of neglect. by Picodon · · Score: 3, Insightful

    To me, this story is mostly a symptom that our society needs a bit more (probably, a lot more) mental health care. I don’t mean it in a disparaging way. I feel sincere pity for him. The guy wrote that he is a felon, so he’s probably done jail time; and his writing reveals obvious (and serious) psychological problems. I find it unfortunate that we cannot do better with (or rather, for) people like that. Mental health troubles can be debilitating (particularly, socially debilitating) and lead too many to jail.

    Don’t get me wrong, I understand the value of personal responsibility. For example, I might get offended if someone bumps into me. But not if it’s a blind person! Unfortunately, psychological problems are (comparatively) more difficult to recognise, understand and (importantly for the legal system) confirm (and measure), so we often handle them using the expedient and cheaper device, the discard pile. This might come from insufficient scientific understanding of those conditions, and limited medical ability to treat them. But I’m afraid that it may also reflect a lack of compassion and generosity on our part, and probably a lack of vision and good judgement as well, since we’re likely ignoring a good investment.

  17. Former bank robber, here by BankRobberMBA · · Score: 1

    Sadly, it wasn't A guy that did that. It was several guys, although deposit slips are used more than checks. I would like to say that this represents the absolute apex of knuckleheadedness in bank robbery, but it actually gets worse.

  18. Re:Sound reasoning by SuricouRaven · · Score: 1

    The server which, after a string of political investigations, had still not been found to have contained any classified material? The only classified information to touch it are documents that were classified retroactively, after they were already sent.

    She used a personal email address to avoid open records laws, probably so she could discuss things frankly with officials and not have to worry about how the public would react to everything she said. It is certainly a bit sleezy, but it was not illegal act the time, and it is a very common practice in politics.

  19. Re:Sound reasoning by CanadianMacFan · · Score: 1

    Hell, I wish I could forget about the damn server but every time I'm close to forgetting about it the GOP starts another inquiry about it.

  20. Shoe Size IQ. by RockDoctor · · Score: 1
    The joke used to be that "you should act your age, not your shoe size". Of course, since we switched to using standard shoe sizes (typically numbers in the 30s or 40s) instead of our little country's parochial system (numbers around 10), that joke had to change. Now we use "act your IQ, not your shoe size.

    This person is clearly doing both - IQ and shoe size in the same low numerical range.

    --
    Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"