Disgruntled IT head sentenced for hacking website
A former IT head in Virginia, upset about being fired, was sentenced Friday to two years and three months in prison for hacking into his former employer's website and deleting approximately 1,000 files.Darnell Albert-El, 53, of Richmond, Va., pleaded guilty in June to one count of intentionally damaging a protected computer without authorization, according to a news release issued Friday by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Albert-El was fired in June 2008 from his position as IT director of Transmarx, a Richmond, Va.-based company. While working at Transmarx, he had administrator-level access to the company's computer network and website, which was hosted on a server located in Georgia.
On July 25, 2008, Albert-El used his computer and administrator credentials to access the server hosting Transmarx's website. He then deleted 1,000 files from the Transmarx website, causing more than $6,000 in losses to his former employer.
A spokesperson for Transmarx could not be reached for comment.
When pleading guilty, Albert-El said he intentionally caused the damage because he was angry about being fired, according to prosecutors.
In addition to his 27-month prison term, Albert-El was ordered to pay $6,700 in restitution to his former employer.
