Thursday, August 24, 2006

Sacked clerk got revenge with five million e-mails

A disgruntled employee who took exception to being dismissed from his company and bombarded his former employer with five million e-mails , in a landmark case.

David Lennon, 19, worked part-time as an accounts clerk at a branch of Domestic & General, the insurance firm, in Bedworth, Warwickshire.
When he was dismissed after just five months in 2003, Lennon used a computer program to send continuous e-mails automatically to Domestic & General’s server, which eventually collapsed, costing the company £30,000. The e-mails, which contained a quote from the horror film The Ring, were traced to Lennon’s home in Bedworth.

Yesterday he pleaded guilty at Wimbledon Youth Court to causing an authorised modification to a computer, under the Computer Misuse Act. It is the first time that someone has been convicted for the offence.

No comments: