Security News > 2022 > January > Former DHS official charged with stealing govt employees' PII
A former Department of Homeland Security official pleaded guilty today to stealing confidential and proprietary software and sensitive databases from the US government containing employees' personal identifying information.
61-year-old Charles Kumar Edwards coordinated the scheme while working for DHS-OIG as an employee and a former acting inspector general between February 2008 and December 2013.
Two other defendants, former DHS-OIG IT Specialist Murali Yamazula Venkata and Enterprise Applications Branch Chief in DHS-OIG's IT division Sonal Patel, allegedly stole copies of database files containing the PII of roughly 246,167 DHS employees and around 6,723 USPS employees.
The stolen PII and Microsoft keys and code were then delivered to Edwards after leaving his employment with the DHS-OIG. Edwards was also given copies of DHS-OIG and USPS-OIG documents and information that would help him develop a private, commercially-owned version of a case management system to be offered for sale to government agencies.
"Defendant EDWARDS used, possessed, and transferred stolen DHS-OIG and USPS-OIG documents and information, including PII of DHS and USPS employees, to software developers in India who were assisting Defendant EDWARDS with the creation and development of a private, commercially owned version of a case management system to be offered for sale to government agencies for the benefit, enrichment, and profit of Defendant EDWARDS and his business DB," according to court documents.
"Defendants EDWARDS and VENKATA and Patel concealed their theft and the provision of software, source code, databases, documents, information, and PII to Defendant EDWARDS by arranging roadside meetings to pass media and equipment to Defendant EDWARDS, by emailing documents to their personal email accounts before forwarding them on to Defendant EDWARDS, and by concealing from DHS-OIG employees the purpose of their request for software."