A 55-year-old programmer could spend up to 10 years behind bars for implementing harmful code that disrupted the network of his previous employer, reportedly resulting in losses amounting to millions of dollars.
On Friday, the US Department of Justice announced that a jury found Davis Lu guilty of “deliberately damaging protected computers” owned by Eaton Corp., a power management company located in Ohio and Dublin.
After spending around 11 years at Eaton Corp., Lu reportedly became frustrated due to a corporate “realignment” in 2018 that cut back on his responsibilities, according to the DOJ.
Beginning his sabotage efforts that same year, he introduced various types of harmful software by the following year.
This code created “infinite loops” that deleted coworker profile files, blocked legitimate logins, and caused system crashes, as explained by the DOJ.
To disrupt Eaton Corp.’s productivity, Lu named these programs using the Japanese word for destruction, “Hakai,” and the Chinese word for lethargy, “HunShui.”
The most damaging aspect of his actions was the “kill switch” Lu created to disable systems if he was ever terminated.
According to the DOJ, the kill switch seemed to have been designed by Lu, as it was labeled “IsDLEnabledinAD,” which likely stands for “Is Davis Lu enabled in Active Directory.”
This switch also “automatically turned on” the day Lu was fired in 2019, causing disruptions for Eaton Corp. users around the world.
While attempting to stop the infinite loops that were crashing their systems, Eaton Corp. uncovered the harmful code.
They quickly realized that the code was being run from a computer linked to Lu’s user ID, according to court documents, and it was operating on a server that only Lu, as a software developer, could access.
Other harmful code was also found on that server, including the code that deleted user profile data and activated the kill switch.
Furthermore, the DOJ examined Lu’s search history and discovered proof that he had looked up ways to gain higher access, conceal processes, and quickly delete files. This suggested that he intended to hinder his coworkers’ efforts to fix the system issues.
In the court documents, Lu acknowledged to investigators that he was responsible for creating the code that caused “infinite loops.”
However, he expressed his “disappointment” with the jury’s decision and intends to appeal, according to his attorney, Ian Friedman, who spoke to Cleveland.com.
Friedman mentioned that “Davis and his supporters believe in his innocence, and this case will be examined at the appellate level.”
The DOJ indicated that a sentencing date has not yet been determined.
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