http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/24/disgruntled_employee_silent_rampage/
By Dan Goodin in San Francisco
The Register
24th January 2008
A Florida woman who believed she was about to get fired has been accused
of deleting $2.5m worth of computer files to seek revenge on her
employer.
Jacksonville Sheriff's officials say Marie Lupe Cooley, 41, used her own
account credentials to access the server of Steven E. Hutchins
Architects and delete seven years' worth of drawings. The firm's alarm
company said someone entered the premises at 11 p.m. on Sunday and was
there for about four hours.
Cooley went on her silent rampage after finding a help-wanted ad placed
by her boss. It described an open administrative assistant position that
sounded remarkably similar to hers.
"She decided to go and mess up everything for everybody," a spokesman
for the sheriff's office told FirstCoast News here [1]. "She decided to
be spiteful and go in and sabotage the records. And she did a very good
job of that."
Firm owner Steven Hutchins said he was able to recover the files. "It
was not a sensationalistic amount of money," he told El Reg, referring
to the fee he paid a consultant to dredge up the discarded architectural
drawings. He declined to say if he had stored backups of the files,
which were valued at $2.5m.
Cooley was charged with damage in excess of $1,000 to computers and was
released on bail.
As it turned out, the help-wanted ad listed a position available in the
office of Hutchins's wife. Cooley's job was never under threat, though
it probably is now.
[1] http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?storyid=100625
Received on Fri Jan 25 00:29:36 2008