A botched email attack on nuclear scientists

The Former Federal Employee Who Tried to Launch a Cyberattack on Nuclear Scientists, The Atlantic He sent emails he thought were infected with viruses to Department of Energy employees involved in developing nuclear weapons. KAVEH WADDELL  , 3 Feb 16  A nuclear scientist formerly employed by the federal government admitted Tuesday that he tried to infect the computers of about 80 government employees whom he believed had access to nuclear materials and weapons.

According to court documents released by the Department of Justice, the scientist, Charles Eccleston, pleaded guilty to one count of attempted unauthorized access to a protected computer.

Until he was fired in 2011, Eccleston worked for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission…….

 He sent an email containing what he thought was a malicious link to about 80 Department of Energy employees, advertising an upcoming nuclear conference in Washington, D.C. The link, which was received by employees in nuclear labs in Tennessee, New Mexico, California, and in the DOE headquarters in D.C., was harmless.

He was told he would be paid about $80,000 for his efforts. Instead, he was arrested by Philippine police and deported to the U.S. He signed a plea deal on Tuesday, affirming that the evidence the FBI gathered on him is accurate, and faces up to 30 months of prison time and up to $95,000 in fines. (He wasoriginally charged with four felonies.)

And those “top secret” NRC email addresses Eccleston sold for thousands of dollars? The FBI later realized they were all publicly available. http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/02/fired-federal-employee-tried-to-launch-cyberattack-on-nuclear-scientists-computers/459894/

February 5, 2016 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | general