back to article Sacked health care BOFH jailed for revenge hack

A former IT worker at a Florida medical facility has been jailed for 19 months after she was convicted of hacking into the network of her former employers, deleting records and locking out legitimate users by deleting passwords. Patricia Marie Fowler, 30, of Palmetto, Florida, mounted the attack on Suncoast Community Health …

COMMENTS

This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. Pen-y-gors
    Thumb Down

    The law is an ass

    ...American law doubly so.

    What on earth is the point of ordering someone to pay $17M damages, when the damage caused was calculated at $17K? If they were a multi-millionaire, maybe, but ordering someone to pay a fine that can never be paid is just being very, very silly and brings the law into ever more disrepute than it's already in. And still some people wonder why there's opposition in this country to allowing anyone at all to be extradited to the US to face 'justice'?

    1. Geoff Campbell Silver badge
      Black Helicopters

      Nothing happens without a reason

      And the reason here, just possibly, could be to keep the subject within the legal system for the foreseeable future, by saddling them with a debt they can never repay.

      Or it might be something else. But it's a thought.

      GJC

    2. Colin Brett
      Headmaster

      Is someone missing a decimal point here?

      The article says:

      "Damages were initially estimated at $17,000. However, a Florida court last week

      ordered her to pay restitution of $17,243.01 as well as spending three years on

      probation (supervised release) following her release."

      That's a decimal point after the 17,243, so the total damages are seventeen thousand, two-hundred and forty three dollars and one US cent.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        @Colin Brett

        The article has been edited, it previously said she had to pay $17m in damages.

        1. Sarah Bee (Written by Reg staff)

          Re: @Colin Brett

          Yes. Can you all pipe down now? Ta.

      2. Pen-y-gors

        article updated?

        ...and the article when originally published clearly said $17 million - could El Reg please publish a prominent note when they correct articles, so that comments don't end up looking strange? One really doesn't want to 'be the first to comment' if an unmarked editorial update makes your comment seem nonsense.

        1. Sarah Bee (Written by Reg staff)

          Re: article updated?

          To be fair, most comments on here look like nonsense, regardless.

          I had to say it.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Alert

      Read numbers much

      17k vs 17.4K not million

  2. Daniel 1

    $17million?

    I thought you had to be looking for evidence of UFOs before you could cause that much damage to a computer network?

  3. Tasogare
    FAIL

    Not a BOFH

    A BOFH doesn't get *caught*. And if they do, they don't confess, they simply arrange for the police involved to be locked in the tape safe. Then the BOFH frames them for accepting bribes to frame the BOFH.

    Also: I've always wondered about these gigantic damages awards. 17M is more than most people earn in their whole life. How does the criminal have any incentive to even try to pay it if they can never, ever eliminate the debt?

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Talk about over punishment

    Bad though the crime clearly is, how precisely do they expect this lady to find $17 million? Beyond bank robbery?

  5. Irk

    Sounds like a fair, reasonable fine.

    That's right, surely she'll be able to manage to pay 17 million dollars of restitution, especially after jailtime and during three years of supervision.

  6. Thomas 18
    Grenade

    And the moral of this story is:

    Once you've been arrested the only things you should allow out of your mouth should be vomit, blood and the words "I want to speak to my lawyer"

  7. Locky
    FAIL

    But

    Did she hack in, or did they just not bother to change the admin passwords?

    1. Michael Dunn
      FAIL

      BOFH?

      If she was the BOFH, perhaps "they" did not know how to change the admin password. She obviously had admin priveleges, if she could change other people's passwords, or the system was so insecure that a five-year-old could have hacked it.

  8. mafoo
    Troll

    $17million

    If you going to award stupid damages in a case, why not go for $100 Miiiiiiillion dollars?

    <raises pinky to corner of mouth>

  9. Rubber chicken
    FAIL

    Monkey - where did you get $17m from?

    There is a decimal point in there.....

    Quote:

    causing damage of at least $17,000. The court also ordered Fowler to pay restitution of $17,243.01 and to be placed on supervised release for three years after serving her sentence of confinement.

    1. kain preacher

      17m

      Came from some who wanted to make an anti American rant so he saw what was not there .

  10. bexley

    restitution

    What is the point of fining an unemployed, low paid sys admin 17 Million dollars?

    What a stupid legal system

  11. bikerboi87
    Unhappy

    boo

    *alters alert to only show articles by Simon Travaglia*

    i'd gotten my hopes up then....

  12. Panix

    Damages are wrong

    "...The court also ordered Fowler to pay restitution of $17,243.01 and to be placed on supervised release for three years after serving her sentence of confinement...."

    That's $17k US not $17m.

  13. bugalugs
    WTF?

    @The law is an ass

    " Damages were initially estimated at $17,000. However, a Florida court last week ordered her to pay restitution of $17,243.01 as well as spending three years on probation "

    Please RTFA before engaging keyboard.

  14. AndrewG
    FAIL

    Proof positive that the register has commentartds

    how many people didn't bother reading the article and just started spouting a $17 million figure was too much?

  15. T J
    Grenade

    If she wasn't angry before......

    .....she will be now. Her next attack wont be one they can detect.

  16. The Mighty Biff
    Alert

    These comments deliver

    Worth $17m for these comments alone. And you people are eligable to vote....

    1. Sarah Bee (Written by Reg staff)

      Re: These comments deliver

      cough COUGH

  17. Frank 2
    Joke

    small fine

    can't believe they only made her pay $17 million...

  18. doperative

    corporate firewall password

    > Fowler was identified as a potential suspect but denied culpability until she confessed during an interview with FBI agents and supplied the revised password of the corporate firewall.

    Isn't there anyone in Florida that knows how to reset a password with physical access to the hardware?

  19. David 141
    Happy

    Password recovery

    "Isn't there anyone in Florida that knows how to reset a password with physical access to the hardware?"

    For $17,000, yes :-)

  20. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    the first rule is to never talk

    and the second rule is to never talk

    and the third rule, if you're too stupid to understand rules 1 and 2: never admit anything...ever!

  21. Lord Lien
    Coat

    Only $17m....

    & how would Sir like his money?

    In quarters or nickels?

  22. Michael Dunn

    Insubordination?

    You can actually be sacked for insubordination in the land of the free?

    As is often the case with the media (even including El Reg) we have only been given half a story - what was the act of insubordination fopr which she was sacked?

This topic is closed for new posts.

Other stories you might like