A software developer named Davis Lu, who worked at Eaton Corporation in Ohio, has been found guilty of sabotaging the company’s system with malware after being demoted. He planted the malicious code while still employed and triggered it upon leaving the company, causing a major system shutdown.
Lu worked at Eaton from 2007 to 2019. After being demoted due to corporate restructuring in 2018, he spent a year secretly developing the malicious code. This code executed an "infinite loop" that consumed server resources. When Lu resigned in September 2019, the code activated, locking thousands of employees out of the system.
In addition to the "kill switch," he also created other harmful programs, including one that deleted his colleagues’ user profiles and another that encrypted and erased data on company laptops.
FBI investigators stated that Lu intentionally harmed his employer and many users. While Lu admitted to the crime, he plans to appeal the guilty verdict. His lawyer said the case will be reconsidered in the appeal process.
Viewer Comments:
The company got rid of a troublesome employee, and he got his revenge—a win-win situation.
Spending an entire year developing that program shows unbelievable dedication.
Companies should implement security measures to guard against “monster employees.”
Source:https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/texas-man-convicted-sabotaging-his-employers-computer-systems-and-deleting-data
https://www.cleveland.com/court-justice/2025/03/former-eaton-corp-employee-found-guilty-of-sabotaging-companys-computer-systems.html
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/developer-guilty-of-using-kill-switch-to-sabotage-employers-systems/
Comment