Computer Programmer Faces 10 Years in Prison for Alleged Source Code Theft
Computer Programmer Faces 10 Years in Prison for Alleged Source Code Theft
Posted 01/20/2012 at 9:59am
| by Paul Lilly
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The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested a computer programmer for allegedly stealing proprietary software code from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY). Bo Zhang, the man accused of stealing the source code, worked at the bank as a contract employee assigned to work on further developing a specific portion of the Government-Wide Accounting and Reporting Program (GWA), software which is owned by the Department of Treasury to track government spending.
"As today’s case demonstrates, our cyber infrastructure is vulnerable not only to cybercriminals and hackers, but also alleged thieves like Bo Zhang who used his position as a contract employee to steal government intellectual property. Fighting cyber crime is one of the top priorities of this office and we will aggressively pursue anyone who puts our computer security at risk," Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement.
According to the complaint. Zhang admitted to copying the GWA source code onto an FRBNY-owned external hard drive, and then connected the external HDD to his private office computer, his home computer, and his laptop. He used the code in connection with a private business he ran training individuals in computer programming. FBI Assistant Director in Charge Janice K. Fedarcyk said his intentions were "immaterial."
"Stealing it and copying it threatened the security of vitally important source code," Fedarcyk said.
If convicted, Zhang, 32 years old, faces a maximum term of 10 years in prison, a maximum term of three years of supervised release, and a fine of whichever is greatest: $250,000, twice the pecuniary gain derived from the offense, or twice the gross pecuniary loss to the victims.
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tekknyne
January 21, 2012 at 11:46am
Last time I checked, nobody monitored or made public the spending habits of the federal reserve. $20 says Zhang saw some really crooked shit going on and now they're trying to turn him into a criminal.
davidtuerk
January 20, 2012 at 6:53pm
F*ck the US sucks for cyber bullsh*it, STEALING SOURCE CODE.... REALLY???????????????????????
Happy
January 20, 2012 at 2:24pm
FBI Assistant Director in Charge Janice Fedarcyk isn't too bright. His intentions are not "immaterial". Intention is what the law is all about. It's what makes the difference between first and second degree murder. It's what makes the difference between burglary and petty theft. Saying his intentions were "immaterial" just goes to show how either corrupt or foolish this woman is, and either way, goes to show how in trouble we are as a country when people like this are able to rise to high positions in powerful governmental organizations like the FBI and spout nonsense like this to the public.
Nimrod
January 20, 2012 at 5:08pm
No, I think shes covering up for something much bigger here that there not telling us. Im supposed to believe that this guy infiltrated the Fed and stole critical source code so that he could further his in home programming class?
"He used the code in connection with a private business he ran training individuals in computer programming."
If you believe that statement then I've got some real estate you might be interested in. Ocean front property right here in Colorado. Comes with the Hover Dam and a miniature likeness of the Great Wall of China. Speaking of China, Im absolutely sure that they nor any other foreign group had anything to do with this what so ever.
warptek2010
January 21, 2012 at 12:33am
Okay, maybe you have a point but in dealing with the law and a legal prosecution of an individual then you better not play that innuendo crap in a courtroom because that just won't cut it. If you have proof to prove your allegations then pony them up otherwise let the guy go. That is the way you're civil rights work for you also by the way...
logicmaster2003
January 21, 2012 at 3:27am
"Zhang" sounds chinese but he could be an American. "Mckenzie" , "Bush", "McGuire" sounds european but they too could be Americans. "Hernandez" etc sounds hispanice but they too could be Americans.
in short.. don't judge the facial feature or last name as foreigners... its just gonna make u look like an idi()t
std error
January 20, 2012 at 11:46am
So what? Should the Feds only hire people with English last names? Racial profiling isn't effective and is actually counter-productive.
Nimrod
January 20, 2012 at 5:10pm
his post didnt have anything to do with profiling and please shuv your political correctness up your own ass. Reminds me of what Paul said to Santorum last night, your overly sensitive.
blkpanthr
January 20, 2012 at 12:42pm
Actually, racial profiling IS effective.
Unfortunately, however, it treads on the innocents' civil rights..
Carlidan
January 22, 2012 at 12:44am
So if racial profiling works so great why I didn't stop Timothy McVeigh, Richard Paplawski,James Von Brunnen, John Partick Bedell, Andrew Josheph Stack,Jared Loughner,Daniel Cowart, Bryon Willaims,Ted Kaczynski,Anders Behring Breivik, and many others from doing terriost act or criminal acts? FYI those are all white people. Now if we did your racial profiling, we would defenitly miss them.
blkpanthr
January 24, 2012 at 8:25am
not sure what your comment has to do with my statement that racial profiling does work.
Racial profiling catches terrorists. period. It runs roughshod over civil rights however.
livebriand
January 20, 2012 at 2:53pm
WTF? There are plenty of people without American names who are perfectly fine. There are also plenty of people with American names who are criminals.
Biceps
January 20, 2012 at 11:50am
@std error: ABSOLUTELY AGREED! That said, this zhang character, regardless of where he is from, obviously has an issue with his basic reasoning skills and his risk/benefit analysis attributes. Luck -5.
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