Manasi VarmaAfter Viky Bohra, a man of Indian origin and husband of an Amazon employee, was sentenced to 26 months in prison on charges of illegal insider trading, another person of Indian origin (PIO) has been charged with conducting a cyber attack on a US hospital.
Vikas Singla, a 45-year old resident of Marietta, Georgia, was recently charged with carrying out a cyberattack on hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, three years ago, on June 8, 2018.
The Charges
As per a statement by Justice Department through Acting Attorney Kurt R. Erskine, the hospital under attack happened to be Gwinnett Medical Center, which was part of the network of healthcare institutions that was served by the network security firm where Singla was working as a Chief-Operating Officer.
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The culprit apparently obtained information from digitizing device while also disrupting phone and network printer services, as per the evidences and indictments presented in the court. The attack was conducted at least partially for financial gain.
All in all, the indictment charges Singla with as many as 17 counts of intentional damages to a protected computer, each of which individually comes with a penalty of a maximum of 10 years. Another count charges him of obtaining information from a protected computer using a computer, with a penalty which can last up to a maximum of 5 years in prison.
What the Officals Have to Say
Chris Hacker, the FBI Special Agent in Charge at the Atlanta Field Office, said that cyberattacks which hit “important infrastructure” including health care institutions, are a major threat to the health and safety and public. He added that the attack could have have proven to be “disastrous” while also expressing his disappointment at the fact that the personal and healthcare related information of many patients was jeopardized by the act. The case is currently under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Meanwhile, General Nicholas L. McQuaid of the Criminal Division Department of Justice has also said that the department gives top priority to holding the people who put patient’s lives at risk by attacking computers integral to the Healthcare system, accountable.
Another PIO in Jail
Recently, another PIO, by the name Viky Bohra, was sentenced to 26 months in prison, after he was charged with felony for obtaining confidential information about Amazon’s finances from his wife, who was an employee at the firm, and using the same for placing illegal trades on the company’s stocks, even before Amazon made its official financial announcements.
Source: Telecom.com