Kamlesh Patel caused more than $130,000 in damage.
AB Wire
A 40-year-old Indian American man from Lowell, Massachusetts, Kamlesh Patel, pleaded guilty Wednesday to hacking into the computer network of his former employer, causing more than $130,000 in damage to three of that company’s clients, for which he will have to pay in restitution, officials said.
Patel worked as a senior network engineer at Northborough-based Baesis Inc., a company that offered network maintenance and security services, and was terminated in October 2010, according to a statement from the office of U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz, reported Lowell Sun.
After his termination, Patel used a colleague’s credentials to enter the network, deleting the company’s image server, which stored copies of clients’ network configurations, the statement said.
Patel pleaded guilty at the U.S. District Court in Boston to two counts of causing damage without authorization to Internet-connected computers and to one count of using means of identification to commit the offense, the statement said. Sentencing is scheduled for September 28
In January 2011, Patel again logged on to the network, and deleted information from Baesis and three of the company’s clients. The victims incurred $137,896 in damages, Ortiz’s office said, which he has agreed to pay in restitution.
Patel’s charges have maximum sentences of no more than 10 years and five years in prison, respectively, both with a fine of $250,000.