Former Employees Face Five-Year Sentence After Allegedly Hacking Company Database

System access was still possible for almost two years using old passwords, indictment says

Nov 05, 2009 | 01:17 PM

By Tim Wilson
DarkReading

Two former employees of an Indiana parts supplier have been indicted for illegally accessing their old employer's computer systems after moving to a competitor.

Scott Burgess, 45, and Walter Puckett, 39, were indicted yesterday for computer intrusion following an investigation by the FBI and the Indiana State Police, according to Timothy Morrison, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana.

The indictment alleges that Burgess and Puckett accessed the Stens Corp. computer systems, based in Jasper, Ind., from various places on approximately 12 different occasions without authorization. The indictment also alleges the computer intrusions were performed "for the purpose of gaining commercial and personal financial benefit."

Burgess and Puckett were working for a business competitor of Stens' at the time of the intrusions, according to the indictment.

According to a news report, the pair left Stens in late 2004 and early 2005, but they were still able to access their old company's systems as late as September 2006.

Stens administrators did eventually terminate the old passwords, but the defendants tried different login credentials and got into the systems anyway, the report says.

Burgess and Puckett face a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. An initial hearing will be scheduled before a U.S. Magistrate Judge.

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