The former software developer was sentenced to four years in prison for obstructing his former employer's network after leaving the company.
Davis Lou, 55, was found guilty of installing a “kill switch” in his former employer's network by planting malicious code designed to crash servers if he was fired.
The kill switch was activated when the company terminated Lu's employment and invalidated the eligibility, causing the Kill Switch, “isdlenabledinad.” The incident has blocked thousands of employees from accessing the company's systems.
The Justice Department that charged the case said that LU's employer was not appointed, but was reportedly Eaton, a power technology company, and that the incident caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage.
LU was found in part through Internet search history and includes searches that include “how to escalate privileges, hide processes, and delete files quickly.”