Sentencing of Software Developer for Malicious Cyberattacks on Eaton Corporation
A software developer, identified as David Lu, has received a sentence of four years in federal prison for orchestrating a series of malicious cyberattacks against his former employer, Eaton Corporation.
As elucidated in court documents, the 55-year-old Chinese national executed these cyber intrusions in 2019 following a diminution in his responsibilities at the power management firm. His actions resulted in substantial damage to Eaton’s computer systems.
In March, a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio found Lu guilty of intentionally inflicting harm on the company’s technological infrastructure. Although Eaton, headquartered in Beachwood, Ohio, has not publicly commented on the sentencing, the incident marks a significant case of insider cyber misconduct.
Lu’s tenure at Eaton spanned from 2007 to 2019, during which he contributed as a software developer for products across various sectors, including aerospace and electrical industries. Nevertheless, his attorney, Peter Zeidenberg, expressed disappointment with the jury’s determination, asserting Lu’s ongoing claim of innocence while contemplating potential avenues for appeal.
In a separate statement, Matthew R. Galeotti, the acting assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s criminal division, articulated that Lu had misappropriated his access and technical acumen to unduly disrupt Eaton’s network, incurring losses estimated in the hundreds of thousands.
Mechanisms of Malicious Cyberattacks Unveiled
A report by The New York Times details the methodology employed by Lu in perpetrating these cyberattacks. In August 2019, he introduced pernicious code that led to server failures and obstructed user logins.
Notably, some of this code incorporated time delays, which enabled Lu to instigate server crashes without needing direct access to his device.
Prosecutors asserted that these disruptions rendered servers unresponsive at erratic intervals, with the code crafted to implicate co-workers who had taken over some of Lu’s former responsibilities.
Court documents reveal that as early as 2017, Lu had written code that obliterated the profile settings of select colleagues; one of these malware iterations was ominously named “Hakai,” a term signifying “destruction” in Japanese.
Moreover, Lu devised a “kill switch” that could bar access to Eaton’s software for thousands of users should his name be erased from the company directory. Following his termination in September 2019, this code was activated, effectively locking employees out of vital systems.
An internal inquiry conducted by Eaton revealed financial repercussions exceeding $360,000 traceable to Lu’s manipulations, with a full remediation of the compromised code taking more than a year.
Additionally, prosecutors cited that Lu labeled one of his programs “IsDLEnabledinAD” and another “HunShui,” which translates to “sleep” or “lethargy.” His internet search history indicated attempts to escalate network privileges and swiftly delete files.
Prior to the return of his corporate laptop, Lu executed commands to erase encrypted data and obstruct recovery efforts.
Source link: Timesofindia.indiatimes.com.
