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WTF?! It’s tempting to consider getting revenge on a company for firing you. Creating a kill switch that crashes systems and locks thousands of employees out of their accounts, for example, might sound like sweet justice, but a developer who implemented this plan has been convicted of criminal sabotage and faces up to a decade in prison.
In November 2007, Houston resident Davis Lu started working for power management company Eaton Corporation. His work life went well until 2018, when a company-wide corporate realignment saw his role downsized. The change included his responsibilities being reduced and his access to the firm’s computer systems limited.
Based on the DoJ’s account, this spooked Lu into worrying that the company could eventually let him go. So, he decided to install malware onto the firm’s systems that would activate if he were ever fired.
The code he added created infinite loops (code designed to exhaust Java threads by repeatedly creating new threads without proper termination and resulting in server crashes or hangs), deleted coworker profile files, and implemented a “kill switch” that would lock out all users if his credentials in the company’s active directory were disabled.
The kill switch code he added was named “IsDLEnabledinAD,” an abbreviation for “Is Davis Lu enabled in Active Directory.” As the name suggests, it checked that Lu’s account was enabled in the company’s Active Directory. If it was, nothing happened.
On September 9, 2019, Lu’s employment was terminated, setting off the kill switch he had created for such an event. Cleveland.com reports that it caused the company hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses and impacted thousands of users globally – Eaton’s global headquarters are in Dublin, Ireland. Lu’s defense attorneys argued that the incident cost the company less than $5,000.
Lu also encrypted the data on his company-issued laptop the day he was instructed to turn off the device and return it. His internet search history revealed he had researched methods to escalate privileges, hide processes, and rapidly delete files. Prosecutors say that after he was fired, Lu also tried to find ways of stopping his co-workers from fixing the issues he caused.
Lu was charged by federal prosecutors in 2021. Following a six-day trial, he was found guilty of one count of causing intentional damage to protected computers, a charge that carries a maximum of 10 years in prison. A sentencing date has not been set.
“Sadly, Davis Lu used his education, experience, and skill to purposely harm and hinder not only his employer and their ability to safely conduct business, but also stifle thousands of users worldwide,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Greg Nelsen.
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