A former cybersecurity advisor was arrested for allegedly trying to extort a publicly traded IT firm by threatening to reveal confidential and proprietary knowledge except they paid him $1,500,000.
A staffing firm assigned Vincent Cannady, 57, to evaluate and remediate potential vulnerabilities in a New York-based multinational info know-how infrastructure providers supplier.
After the termination of his employment for efficiency causes, on June 23, 2023, Cannady allegedly used a company-issued laptop computer to obtain proprietary and confidential info, together with architectural maps, commerce secrets and techniques, and lists of potential vulnerabilities, from the sufferer firm’s community, to which he nonetheless had entry.
The Division of Justice says Cannady threatened to publicly disclose this delicate info except the corporate agreed to pay him as much as $1.5 million as a settlement for what he claimed was employment discrimination.
When confronted in regards to the knowledge theft, Cannady reportedly escalated his calls for, minimize off the staffing agency’s entry to the laptop computer, and engaged in a prolonged extortion process that included authorized threats for emotional misery and different claims.
The defendant additionally tried to have interaction the media and hinted at releasing the stolen info publicly or disclosing it by way of authorized filings and experiences to regulatory our bodies, which could hurt the corporate’s fame and investor confidence.
A DOJ announcement says the previous IT advisor concerned the staffing firm in his extortion makes an attempt by speaking his calls for and authorized threats to them as properly.
CANNADY then demanded that the corporate settle unspecified discrimination and emotional misery claims. He threatened to “upload all of the documents in his possession immediately once the case is filed” if the corporate didn’t settle his claims for $1.5 million. He added, “[a]s we all know those documents will imperil [the company’s] reputation and shake investor confidence.” He particularly demanded “a 10 year Certificate of Deposit for 1.5 million dollars,” which might “buy a[n] attestation that all files destroyed by me and a gag order preventing me from ever talking about what I saw or the documents I had in my possession or the documents I had created at [the company] or downloaded.”
The criticism towards Cannady states that the defendant repeatedly sought assurances to be added to a settlement that prevented his earlier employer from referring the case to regulation enforcement.
If discovered responsible, Cannady faces expenses beneath 18 U.S.C. § 1951, which pertains to interference with commerce by threats or violence, generally often known as extortion.
The utmost sentence for extortion is 20 years of imprisonment, with the sentence to be determined by the USA District Courtroom for the Southern District of New York.
