Bank IT support bod cops suspended sentence after hacking boss's webcam because he didn't get payrise
- Reference: 1604501111
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/11/04/ashley_crispin_hacking_british_business_bank/
- Source link:
Service desk analyst Ashley Crispin, of Wickford Place, Basildon, quit his job at the state-owned economic development bank established by UK.gov, after growing frustrated that he hadn't received a raise he thought he deserved.
Rather than serving out his notice period quietly and moving on, though, the 23-year-old decided to "show off" by tampering with the bank's systems before he left, Inner London Crown Court heard on 30 October.
His Honour Judge Jeremy Donne QC told Crispin, as [1]reported by the Basildon Echo: "To say you have behaved utterly stupidly is almost a grotesque understatement."
Crispin attacked his employer's systems to the extent that 60 staff were unable to work properly "for over a week", as the Court News UK newswire [2]reported . Crispin's manager, Sandy George, had his webcam had been hacked by the rogue IT bod, who then went on to take covert snaps of his boss from the compromised device.
He also changed passwords for networked devices – and then deleted network logs in a vain attempt to try and cover his traces.
City of London Police, the force that investigated Crispin's crimes, said in a statement that once Crispin left the bank he applied for another job at an investment management company and denied being under police investigation, thereby committing fraud.
The IT support bod pleaded guilty to four counts under the Computer Misuse Act 1990 and to one count of fraud by false representation. HHJ Donne gave him a suspended eight-month prison sentence, three months on curfew, and hit him with £800 in court costs. His digital devices were also forfeited to police.
The Crown Prosecution Service did not respond to requests for a copy of the prosecutor's sentencing note, a document read out in open court during the hearing.
The crime of interfering with networks from the inside is not uncommon in the UK's courts. A woman who deleted 5,000 files from a corporate Dropbox account, causing the failure of a business, [3]walked away from court with community service earlier this year, while a sacked IT bod who knew his former employer hadn't changed the passwords [4]copped five months after hacking airline Jet2 . ®
Get our [5]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/18842872.basildon-bank-worker-quit-job-hacked-system/
[2] https://courtnewsuk.co.uk/super-geeks-software-took-secret-pics-of-his-boss-when-he-failed-to-get-a-pay-rise/
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2020/06/19/dropbox_deletion_spree_community_service/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2019/12/18/jet2_hacker_scott_burns_prison_sentence/
[5] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: I agree it seems like very light punishment
I doubt he is ever going to work in IT again, which is the real punishment(?)
Of course he may forget to mention it all, but since he's already been caught out for that he'd be a brave man to do it again.
Re: I agree it seems like very light punishment
In a few years' time he can do that without the risk of another fraud prosecution for most jobs.
Re: I agree it seems like very light punishment
It will be 3 years before his conviction is spent, he won't be able to get a job in IT in the interim period and would then need to explain to a future employer why he was out of IT for 3 years that would be a red flag for me as a recruiter. I would want a sensible explanation if the gap.
Even if his skills are bang up to date now they will be less relevant in 3 years, especially if he isn't using them for that time.
I be;ioved that an enhance CRB check would also uncover the spent conviction and he will never pass a government security check now.
In reality he has just destroyed his career.
State support
Question:
Would he qualify for unemployment payments (not sure what you call it there)? If he doesn't, is there other state support he would qualify for?
In most jurisdictions here, he wouldn't qualify for unemployment, but he could qualify for welfare payments (eventually) with the correct paperwork. That wouldn't be enough to afford housing in most areas, but would be enough for food.
Deserved
I wonder why he was illdesevring of a pay rise? Seems like an easy going sort of team mate
I'd Do It Again For A £1,000!
800 pound fine? Really threw the book at him, didn't they.
I agree it seems like very light punishment
But a suspended sentence is not the same as walking free from court, an expression I would see as equal to being found not guilty. Presumably a first offence and the judge must have had a view on the likelihood of reoffending being low.