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Patricia Marie Fowler owes $17,000 in restitution and will spend 18 months
in federal prison. Upon her release, the former information technology (IT) professional
will spent the next three years on probation. Fowler's crime, hacking into a
former employer's computer system, spanned a two-week period. Her
victim, Suncoast Community Health Centers, provides health care to low-income
Floridians.
After being fired from Suncoast in March 2009, Fowler breached
the organization's firewall and deleted files, changed administrator account names
and passwords, removed access to network resources, and altered employee pay
rates. Unsurprisingly, her firing was due to insubordination and refusal to
follow instructions rather than lack of technical ability.
Is your IT department sure that it can safeguard your
company's network against former employees with an axe to grind?
Source: InfoTECH Spotlight
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