Alum Kills Over $58,000 in PC Gear With 'USB Killer' Device
The student in question is Vishwanath Akuthota. He graduated from [The College of St. Rose] in Albany, New York back in 2017. Yet, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ), Akuthota "admitted that he intentionally destroyed the computers and recorded himself doing so using his iPhone, including making statements such as 'I'm going to kill this guy' before inserting the USB Killer into a computer's USB port." The video hasn't been published.
Akuthota also recognized that he caused more than $58,000 in damage to The College of St. Rose and has agreed to pay back that amount to the school. (And here we thought people only had to pay that kind of money for their alma mater when their student loans come due.) The DoJ said he "faces up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 and a term of post-imprisonment supervised release of up to 3 years" after sentencing.
Best advertising ever for USB Killer?
Also at The Verge.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 21 2019, @03:40PM (1 child)
Exactly. When you read "up to" on a sentence, especially a Federal sentence, it's like the theoretical maximum speed of a supercomputer. Most real crimes and most real computational problems will be much less.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 21 2019, @04:36PM
You generally get closer to the minimum (depending on the mood of the judge & prosecutor), unless you take the case to trial and ignore their "plea deals". Then they will try to hit you with everything they've got.