The student uses a USB key to destroy computers worth $ 58,000

A former student of the College of Saint Rose (USA) pleaded guilty to destroying campus computers worth more than $ 58,000 with the help of a key USB.

The student, Vishwanath Akuthota, could be sentenced to 10 years imprisonment (with up to three years of supervision after his release) and a fine of up to 250 $ 000.

Akuthota, 27, used one of the USB sticks called "Killer USB" or "badbadin". These are devices with the appearance of a current key that sends high voltage surges to the device to which it is connected, with which it can damage the hardware components and fry the circuits. These types of devices can be found on the Internet.

The young man was arrested and detained in the state of North Carolina on February 22, just over a week after inserting the USB killer into 66 computers located at various locations on Saint's campus. Rose, a small private school. in Albany, the capital of New York.

Apparently, Akuthota is recorded by inserting a malicious USB device into the computers by uttering phrases like "I'm going to kill this guy", just as the teams started to overload and get lost.

The FBI and the Albany police found these videos, which served as evidence to charge. However, they did not transcend the causes for which the student would have attacked the computers of the university.

In total, Akuthota caused damages worth $ 58,471. As part of his guilty plea, which he did last week, the author of the attack agreed to pay this amount to the university.

Akuthota is a citizen of Indian nationality who is in the United States with a visa after graduating with a Master of Commerce degree in Saint Rose in 2017. According to the British newspaper Albany's Times, quoted by the digital newspaper The Verge, he reportedly also followed courses in information systems. Akuthota calculation appeared in one of the videos that the university published on Facebook in 2016, in which he explained that his will was to become an entrepreneur.

When in this video he was asked why he had chosen Saint Rose for his training, he explained that "in college, many opportunities will prepare you for a better future, things that I can learn and apply in my life. life".

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