Monday, February 20, 2017

Revenge of the IT Guy (Case #254)

A sacked system administrator has been jailed...

after hacking the control systems of his ex-employer – and causing over a million dollars in damage. 

Brian Johnson, 44, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, US, had worked at paper maker Georgia-Pacific for years, but on Valentine's Day 2014 he was let go.

He didn't take that lying down, and spent the next two weeks rifling through the firm's systems and wreaking havoc from his home. 

Johnson was still able to connect into Georgia-Pacific servers via VPN even after his employment was terminated.

Once back inside the corporate network, he installed his own software, and monkeyed around with the industrial control systems.

Artist's conception.
His target was the firm's Port Hudson, Louisiana, factory, which produces paper towels and tissues 24 hours a day. In a two-week campaign, he caused an estimated $1.1m in lost or spoiled production. more

Mr. Johnson's emotions imagined as music inside his head.