An ex-Gucci engineer has been accused of hacking into the company’s computer system, destroying servers and wiping e-mail accounts and files. If convicted, the former employee could receive up to 15 years behind bars.
Sam Chihlung Yin, a network engineer, has been indicted in Manhattan on 50 counts of computer tampering, identity theft, falsifying business records, computer trespass, criminal possession of computer-related material, unlawful duplication of computer-related material, and unauthorized use of a computer. He is also accused of using his company discount to buy Gucci products in bulk and reselling them in Asia.
‘Lingering Effects’
Yin has pleaded not guilty and was released on his own recognizance following a hearing Monday.
The 34-year-old Yin was fired from the Italy-based fashion company by its Manhattan office for buying and reselling Gucci products. According to the office of New York County District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr., Yin retaliated by attacking the computer system.
Vance’s office said Yin, while still a Gucci employee, obtained false credentials that later allowed him to create a virtual-private-network token on a security key fob. Following his dismissal, the office said, Yin e-mailed the Gucci IT department under his fake name and managed to get the token activated.
Over several months, according to Vance’s office, Yin destroyed virtual servers, wiped e-mail accounts, and deleted important files in what amounted to a crippling attack on the company’s network. The office said Yin used administrator passwords obtained while he was an employee. For 24 hours last June, Gucci personnel were unable to access e-mail or enter the network to retrieve documents. Vance’s office also said the “lingering effects of the intrusion continued to impose costs on the company in the weeks and months that followed.”
$ 200,000 Loss
The company estimates it lost $ 200,000 in what Vance described as “diminished productivity, restoration and remediation measures, and…
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