Man pleads guilty to cyber attack against former employer
Courtesy Photo
Northborough's Baesis Inc. was sold in January to RKL eSolutions for an undisclosed sum.
A former employee of Northborough’s Baesis, Inc. has plead guilty to hacking into and damaging the computer networks of his former employer and three former clients, causing damage of over $130,000.
Kamlesh Patel, 40, pleaded guilty to two counts to causing damage without authorization to Internet-connected computers and to one count of using means of identification to commit the offense, according to a release from the Office of United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz. Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 28.
According to the release, Patel worked as a senior network engineer at Northborough-based Baesis Inc., a company that offered network maintenance and security services to its clients and has since been acquired by RKL eSolutions. After Baesis terminated Patel, he used a colleague’s network credentials to access Baesis’s computer network in October of 2010, deleting the company’s image server and then in January of 2011 when he accessed Baesis’ network and that of four of the company’s clients. In that second access, Patel reportedly used specialized software to delete data from all four companies’ networks.
As a result, according to Ortiz’s office, the victim companies temporarily lost use of their networks, including internet and e-mail access. One victim company lost access to its Internet telephone system for several weeks.
Patel’s victims incurred $137,896 in damages. He has agreed to pay this amount in restitution in connection with his plea. Patel faces up to 25 years in prison and $750,000 in fines, although sentences are typically less than the maximum penalty, according to Ortiz’s office.
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments