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Student Used 'USB Killer' Device To Destroy $58,000 Worth of College Computers (theverge.com)
A former student of The College of Saint Rose in Albany, New York, has pled guilty to charges that he destroyed tens of thousands of dollars worth of campus computers using a USB device designed to instantly overwhelm and fry their circuitry. The plea was announced today by the Department of Justice, FBI, and Albany Police Department. The Verge reports: Vishwanath Akuthota, the former student, now faces up to 10 years in prison (with up to three years of supervision after release) and a fine totaling up to $250,000. He was arrested and taken into custody in North Carolina on February 22nd, just over a week after he went on a spree of inserting the "USB Killer" device into 66 of Saint Rose's computers around various locations on campus. Such devices can be easily and freely purchased online and can overload the surge protection in many PCs.
Akuthota, 27, apparently made video recordings of himself inserting the malicious USB device into the computers and said "I'm going to kill this guy" as the PCs were overloaded and permanently ruined. So it's fair to say the FBI and APD had all the evidence they needed. In total, Akuthota caused $58,471 worth of damage. As part of his guilty plea, he has agreed to pay back that amount to the college, a small private school in New York's capital city. The Verge reached out to The College of Saint Rose for a statement on today's news, but a spokesperson said the college had been asked by law enforcement to refrain from commenting.
Akuthota, 27, apparently made video recordings of himself inserting the malicious USB device into the computers and said "I'm going to kill this guy" as the PCs were overloaded and permanently ruined. So it's fair to say the FBI and APD had all the evidence they needed. In total, Akuthota caused $58,471 worth of damage. As part of his guilty plea, he has agreed to pay back that amount to the college, a small private school in New York's capital city. The Verge reached out to The College of Saint Rose for a statement on today's news, but a spokesperson said the college had been asked by law enforcement to refrain from commenting.
And shows how fucked up the US "justice" system is. Average sentence for murder is something like seven years. He should be given a psych evaluation and made to pay restitution via wage garnishment in the future.
While I am sure you're right, and he certainly deserves some sort of punishment, does up to 10 years in prison (with up to three years of supervision after release) and a fine totaling up to $250,000 sound like proportional punishment to you?
I am genuinely curious, because to me even if he gets half of that it seems like total overkill to me.
The silly boy is probably an entitled prick, and was fired for good reasons, but wouldn't a few months prison, and some probation seem like an appropriate response?
He didn't get 10 years.
The article, like most, quotes the maximum anyone could ever get for violating a particular statute. Rarely does anyone get the maximum. The judge takes into account exactly what the person did, their record, etc. In most cases, the penalty is actually negotiated with the defendant via their attorney.
The crime he was charged with would be something like "intentionally destroying property greater than $10,000". That covers taking a baseball bat to your ex-boyfriend's car, destroying the school computers, intentionally driving a bulldozer through someone's house, and lots of other ways of destroying lots of things. The WORST possible cases of "intentionally destroying property valued *over* $10,000" could get 10 years, if the defendant told the judge "fuck you, I'll do it again when I get out".
You can reduce the judge's descretion by enacting a specific law against "destroying a schools computers" and another law against "destroying your neighbor's car" ans another against "destroying the judge's house", but I think we have enough laws already.
Many years ago I worked for a technical institute. Got an urgent call "the computers where exploding"
Some little turd of an individual had switched all the machines off then set the power supplies to 110v (in a 220v country)
So the next person to turn the machine on got a loud bang and smoke...
Many machines where destroyed. Many courses had to be cancelled.
People like this need locked up, forever.
Yeah but how are we going to keep the PIC funded if we adopt your idea? Don't you understand there's campaign donations involved here?
I think prison is entirely appropriate here and for other property crimes. If someone decides to destroy/ruin/steal someone else's property, they should be put behind bars for a while so they understand there are consequences to stupid and negative actions.
How does one pay restitution when they are locked up in prison? Punishment isn't the sole purpose of the justice system. There are ways to implement a punishment, pay back the damaged parties, and eventually reincorporate the offender as a valuable member of society. Put the guy to work and direct the earnings towards the damaged party. You could having him pick up trash off the side of the road, or ideally assign him a job where he can learn a valuable skill and proceed into a successful life once his restitution is paid. If it makes you feel better, throw him in jail for a month to let him know what awaits if he fucks up again, then put an ankle bracelet on him and make him stay in some sort of halfway home until his debt is paid. Just throwing him behind bars for 5-10 years isn't going to solve anything.