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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

Remember when the FBI announced they were investigating the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team [soylentnews.org] following an "attack" on the internal networks of the Houston Astros? Now a former St. Louis director has pleaded guilty to five counts related to multiple breaches [npr.org]:

A former St. Louis Cardinals director for baseball development, Chris Correa, pleaded guilty to five counts of unauthorized access to protected information on the Houston Astros, including scouting and injury reports, trade discussions and draft rankings.

According to the Department of Justice, Correa, 35, admitted that from March 2013 through at least March 2014, when he was in charge of scouting for the Cardinals, he illicitly accessed the Astros' online database, called Ground Control, as well as email accounts of people in the Astros organization to obtain proprietary data.

Each count carries a maximum possible sentence of five years in federal prison and a possible $250,000 fine.

A Justice Department statement said:

"In one instance, Correa was able to obtain an Astros employee's password because that employee has previously been employed by the Cardinals. When he left the Cardinals organization, the employee had to turn over his Cardinals-owned laptop to Correa along with the laptop's password. Having that information, Correa was able to access the now-Astros employee's Ground Control and e-mail accounts using a variation of the password he used while with the Cardinals."

[...] "Unauthorized computer intrusion is not to be taken lightly," U.S. attorney Kenneth Magidson said in the DOJ statement. "Whether it's preserving the sanctity of America's pastime or protecting trade secrets, those that unlawfully gain proprietary information by accessing computers without authorization must be held accountable for their illegal actions."

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