So it looks like the Iberdrola breach, reported in April, was a disgruntled employee situation after all. Steve Orr reports:
In mid-April, an RG&E corporate parent announced that a computer intruder had compromised the privacy of job applicants’ personal data.
Coming a year after another computer-privacy foul up involving Rochester Gas and Electric Corp., the parent company, Rochester-based Iberdrola USA, immediately warned thousands of applicants and called in the the FBI.
The feds believe they’ve found the culprit: A former Iberdrola USA human-resource executive in Rochester who now stands accused of sneaking onto the company computer system to profanely discourage people who had applied for her old job.
Read more on PressConnects.com. Kendrick was charged under the federal hacking statute (CFAA): 18 USC 1030(a)(5)(A).
The good news, perhaps, for those affected by the breach is that the former employee probably wasn’t interested in their personal details or information as much as smearing her former employer.
I’ve uploaded a copy of the complaint with investigator’s affidavit here.
There’s also a take-home message here: Kendrick was still able to access Iberdrola’s system after her termination by using the login credentials of another employee. How did she know the employee’s password? She had created the account for the employee during her employment there. Sometimes, it’s not enough just to cancel an employee’s login credentials – you need to reset passwords for everyone under them whose password the employee might know or have had access to.