David Lu, a Chinese employee at the American company Eaton, paid a heavy price for seeking revenge for his demotion. Lu crashed the server with malware, causing the company a loss of $360,000. Now, the court has sentenced him to four years in prison. This incident raises serious questions about corporate cybersecurity.
Cyber Attack: A court has sentenced 55-year-old David Lu, a Chinese employee at the well-known American company Eaton, to four years in prison. In 2019, Lu, angered by his demotion, launched a malware attack on the company's server, causing the system to crash and preventing thousands of employees from logging in. This cyber attack caused the company a loss of more than $360,000 US. This case demonstrates that employee dissatisfaction and weak cybersecurity can pose a significant threat to any organization.
Employee Enraged by Demotion After 12 Years of Service
David Lu had been working at Eaton for the past 12 years. However, in 2019, the company began a restructuring process in which Lu was demoted. Angered by this, he decided to take revenge and created a malicious code that would activate as soon as he left the job. As soon as Lu's name was removed from the company directory in September 2019, the code was activated and the entire server crashed.
Due to this cyber attack, thousands of the company's employees were unable to log in. The company's internal operations were affected, and normal operations came to a standstill. This incident made it clear that a disgruntled employee can also pose a major threat to an organization's digital security.
Company Suffers Losses of Millions of Dollars
Eaton's internal investigation revealed that the attack resulted in a direct economic loss of more than $360,000 US (approximately three crore rupees) to the company. Lu created all these malicious codes on the company's laptop itself. Not only this, but before returning the laptop, he deleted important data and also blocked the recovery system so that the information could not be recovered.
Lu was arrested about a month after the incident. After being found guilty in court, he was sentenced to four years in prison. This case raises serious questions about cybersecurity in the corporate world.
David Lu's case shows that employee dissatisfaction and weak cybersecurity can combine to cause heavy losses to any company. In cases such as demotions, companies should not only maintain transparency but also make their IT infrastructure secure. At the same time, the court's decision has made it clear that those who commit such acts will face severe punishment.
