Former employee planned cyber attack to get revenge on company which dismissed him
Lewis Howe from Dovercourt was convicted at Chelmsford Crown Court for a cyber attack on his former employer's company. Picture: GETTY IMAGES - Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto
A ‘remorseless’ man from Dovercourt has been convicted for a cyber attack which he carried out on his former employers after being dismissed from the company.
Lewis Howe, 27, of Abdy Avenue, carried out the offence from his Dovercourt home in 2018, one month after his dismissal as an IT professional.
He appeared at Chelmsford Crown Court on Friday, July 10, for one count of causing unauthorised acts with intent to impair the operation of a computer after previously admitting to the offence.
The 27-year-old disrupted his former employer’s company for a total of 15 days, costing the business a six-figure sum by preventing them from receiving data and deleting key user accounts.
Howe was dismissed in October of 2018 and launched the cyber attack on November 16 where he gained unauthorised access to the domain controller.
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The cyber crime team investigated the attack and on January 18 they searched his address and found evidence on his laptop.
Detective Sergeant Ian Collins, of Essex Police’s cyber crime team, said: “Howe planned and calculated his revenge after being dismissed from the company.
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“He even bragged about what he had done and the effects it would cause on a chat group.
“These chat logs showed he had no remorse and intended to cause his previous employer’s IT structure some real significant harm.”
DS Collins said that despite Howe thinking he had hidden his tracks well, the high-skilled team from Essex Police were able to pursue him and present the complex forensic digital evidence to the court, in a way which could easily be understood.
He said this was what led to Howe’s guilty plea and the successful conviction on Friday.
The 27-year-old received a 10 month sentence, suspended for 24 months and is required to complete 240 hours of unpaid work and 30 rehabilitation days.
He is also on a six month long curfew between 7pm to 7am and will be electronically monitored.
Howe was ordered to pay a victim surcharge and £360 in costs.
