Forwarded from: William Knowles <wkat_private> http://www.stjoenews-press.com/Main.asp?SectionID=81&SubSectionID=272&ArticleID=35613 By MARSHALL WHITE marshallat_private December 21, 2002 Federal indictment names Richard W. Gerhardt, 43, in unauthorized access case KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A St. Joseph man was indicted Thursday for unauthorized computer intrusion. Richard W. Gerhardt, 43, was charged in an indictment made public Friday. The indictment said he gained unauthorized access to the network computer system of Nestle USA. The crime is alleged to have occurred while Mr. Gerhardt was employed as an information- systems consultant working primarily at the Friskies Petcare plant in St. Joseph. Friskies Petcare is a corporate subsidiary of Nestle USA, which in turn is a subsidiary of Nestle S.A. of Vevey, Switzerland. On five separate occasions between Aug. 12, 2001, and June 10, 2002, the indictment alleges Mr. Gerhardt gained access to the Nestle network computer system without authorization. Mr. Gerhardt allegedly downloaded about 5,000 user account passwords from Nestle's system. While on the system, Mr. Gerhardt allegedly stored the stolen passwords in another file. This is the first case of computer hacking ever prosecuted in the Western District of Missouri, which recently launched a new Cyber Crimes and Child Exploitation Unit, said U.S. Attorney Todd Graves. One of the unit's responsibilities is to handle computer intrusions, copyright and trademark violations, theft of trade secrets, economic espionage and Internet fraud. Computer intrusion or "hacking" cases typically involve matters such as unauthorized access to computer systems by employees, attacks resulting in service outages, system penetrations by outsiders, theft of proprietary information, and sabotage of data or networks. These cases include intrusions into commercial or private computer systems as well as government computer systems where sensitive or national security information may be compromised, said Don Ledford, a spokesman for Mr. Graves' office. The various offices and facilities of Nestle USA and Nestle S.A. throughout the United States and the world, including the Friskies Petcare plant in St. Joseph, are linked together by a network computer system, said Burton Taylor, a spokesman for Mr. Graves' office. Any computer or server connected to that system, Mr. Graves said, is a "protected computer" under federal law. Because of Mr. Gerhardt's alleged attack on the computer system, Nestle had to conduct a damage assessment, verify the security and restore computer integrity, Mr. Ledford said. Mr. Gerhardt was arrested Friday and taken before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah W. Hays for an initial court appearance. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gene Porter is prosecuting the case. The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the case. No date has been set for a trial. *==============================================================* "Communications without intelligence is noise; Intelligence without communications is irrelevant." Gen Alfred. M. Gray, USMC ================================================================ C4I.org - Computer Security, & Intelligence - http://www.c4i.org *==============================================================* - ISN is currently hosted by Attrition.org To unsubscribe email majordomoat_private with 'unsubscribe isn' in the BODY of the mail.
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