A former support admin was sentenced to one year in prison after admitting he shut down the servers of a large IT company a few months after his employment ended there.

Lesmany Nunez, 30, was an employee at Quantum Technology Partners in Miami from August 2006 to May 2007. Amazingly, he was able to breach the company's network security in August 2007 using an administrator password, according to documents filed in federal court in Miami.

The former employee proceeded to change the passwords of all the IT admins and then shut down most of the company's servers. He also deleted files that could have used backup tapes to repair some of the damage. The attack shut down Quantum's network for almost a week, wreaking more than $30,000 in damages, prosecutors said.

Nunez was ultimately fingered by tracing activity on Quantum's computer to Nunez's home computer. Additional evidence was found in a search of his home. ®

Related stories

• City IT manager accused of brazenly stealing mayor's email (10 November 2011)

  https://www.theregister.com/2011/11/10/it_manager_charges/

• Security guard admits he hacked hospital PCs (17 May 2010)

  https://www.theregister.com/2010/05/17/ghost_exodus_guilty_plea/

• TSA worker tried to sabotage terror database, feds say (11 March 2010)

  https://www.theregister.com/2010/03/11/tsa_sabotage_charges/

• Incompetence a bigger IT security threat than malign insiders (25 August 2009)

  https://www.theregister.com/2009/08/25/rsa_accidental_security_breach_survey/

• IT admin charged in Xmas Eve rampage on charity (7 August 2009)

  https://www.theregister.com/2009/08/07/it_admin_christmas_eve_rampage/

• IT grad sues school over failed job hunt (5 August 2009)

  https://www.theregister.com/2009/08/05/it_grad_sues_school/

• Fired IT director admits $94k rampage on organ bank (1 May 2009)

  https://www.theregister.com/2009/05/01/fired_it_manager_rampage/

• Pink-slipped sysadmin admits to threatening ex-employer's network (27 April 2009)

  https://www.theregister.com/2009/04/27/sysadmin_cops_plea_for_threatening_former_employer/

• Drunken BOFH wreaks $1.2m in Oz damage (13 March 2009)

  https://www.theregister.com/2009/03/13/nt_hack_convict/

• Feds: IT admin plotted to erase Fannie Mae (29 January 2009)

  https://www.theregister.com/2009/01/29/fannie_mae_sabotage_averted/

• Sacked IT admin sentenced for hacking ex-employer (7 January 2009)

  https://www.theregister.com/2009/01/07/it_admin_sentenced/

• Fired IT manager accused of venting spleen on organ bank (26 June 2008)

  https://www.theregister.com/2008/06/26/fired_it_manager_rampage/

• Disgruntled admin gets 63 months for massive data deletion (13 June 2008)

  https://www.theregister.com/2008/06/13/it_manager_rampage_sentence/

• Employee's silent rampage wipes out $2.5m worth of data (24 January 2008)

  https://www.theregister.com/2008/01/24/disgruntled_employee_silent_rampage/