Security News > 2021 > March > Office 365 Cyberattack Lands Disgruntled IT Contractor in Jail

A former IT contractor has been sentenced to two years in prison after hacking into a company's server and deleting the majority of its employees' Microsoft Office 365 accounts.

On Aug. 8, 2018, Kher then hacked into the company's server and deleted over 1,200 of its 1,500 O365 user accounts.

According to the DoJ, the attack affected the bulk of the company's employees and completely shut down the company.

"Employees' accounts were deleted - they could not access their email, their contacts lists, their meeting calendars, their documents, corporate directories, video and audio conferences, and virtual Teams environment necessary for them to perform their jobs," according to the DoJ. "Outside the company, customers, vendors and consumers were unable to reach company employees. No one could inform these buyers what was going on or when the company would be operational again."

In addition to two years in jail, a U.S. district court judge sentenced Kher to three years' supervised release and ordered restitution to the company of $567,084.

The incident is a stark reminder of the devastating impact that "Insider threats" - whether it's by a disgruntled employee, third-party contractor or otherwise - can have on the security and privacy of company data.

News URL

https://threatpost.com/office-365-cyberattack-disgruntled-contractor-jail/164986/