Vikas Singla, the chief operating officer of a network security enterprise working for the healthcare sector has been accused by federal prosecutors of alleged crimes coming from a cyberattack on Georgia-based Gwinnett Medical Center (GMC) back in September 2018.
According to the charges, the attack conducted by the 45 years old man involved disrupting phone and network printer service and gaining information from a digitizing device. The indictment further alleges that the cyberattack on the medical center was carried out, in part, for financial profit.
Special Agent in Charge Chris Hacker of the FBI’s Atlanta Field Office stated:
This cyberattack on a hospital not only could have had disastrous consequences but patients’ personal information was also compromised. The FBI and our law enforcement partners are determined to hold accountable, those who allegedly put people’s health and safety at risk while driven by greed.
How Much Time Is He Facing After The Medical Center Cyberattack?
According to the US Department of Justice’s official statement, the COO was charged in a Georgia federal court Thursday with 17 counts of deliberate damage to a protected computer, each of which carries a maximum punishment of 10 years’ imprisonment.
He was also charged with one count of obtaining information by computer from a protected computer, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicholas L. McQuaid of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said:
Criminal disruptions of hospital computer networks can have tragic consequences. The department is committed to holding accountable those who endanger the lives of patients by damaging computers that are essential in the operation of our health care system.
The man, who pleaded not guilty to the accusation, was liberated on bond. A trial date has not yet been set by the court.
A federal district court judge will decide any sentence after taking into consideration the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Trial Attorney Brian Mund of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Samir Kaushal for the Northern District of Georgia are prosecuting the case.