- A software developer sabotaged his employer after he had been relegated
- Davis Lu created a “kill switch” that would lock all users
- He was sentenced to four years in prison and extra three years of accompanied leave
A dissatisfied employee has been sentenced to four years in prison after installing “Kill Switch” malware on the network of his employer, which would be activated if he ever lost network access.
According to a press release from the Ministry of Justice (DOJ), a Chinese subject named Davis Lu worked between November 2007 and October 2019 for an unnamed software company. In 2018 he was relegated and lost access to the system, after which he “started sabotaging the systems of his employer”. At the beginning of August 2019 he introduced malware that crashed systems and prevented other users not registering.
Judicial documents also revealed that he created “infinite loops” those servers crashed, removed fellow profit files and eventually built a “kill -switch” that would lock all users if his access to Active Directory were to be withdrawn. At the beginning of September 2019 he was asked to give up his laptop, after which the kill switch was activated.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars in compensation
Researchers found a lot of burdensome evidence on that laptop, including the day he struck his device – he deleted encrypted data.
An analysis of his search history showed that he was looking for ways to escalate privileges, hide processes and remove files quickly. Finally, the Kill Switch code was called Isdlenabledinad, shortly in front of “Davis Lu is engaged in Active Directory”.
A month after the malware ran, Lu was arrested and was on trial for the jury later.
During the process it was shown that the employer of LU “hundreds of thousands of dollars” suffered from losses, as a direct consequence of his actions. Now Lu will spend four years in prison, with another three years of accompanying release.
“The FBI works ruthless every day to ensure that cyber actors who use malignant code and American companies experience the consequences of their actions,” said Assistant Director Brett Leatherman of the FBI Cyber ​​Division.
“I am proud of the work of the FBI cyber team that led to today’s conviction and hope that it sends a strong message to others who can consider entering into similar illegal activities. This case also underlines the importance of early identification of insider threats and emphasizes the need for proactive involvement in your local FBI -Veldbartket.”
By The register
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