Excerpted from the Associated Press Newswire via Executive News Service (GO
ENS) on CompuServe:
APn 11/23 0106 BRF--Computer Virus
WESTBURY, N.Y. (AP) -- A computer company owner and his technician
are accused of planting a virus in a dissatisfied customer's computer
system, after the customer refused to pay for a program.
Michael Lofaro, 29, owner of MJL Design of Manhattan, and his
technician, John Puzzo, 22, were charged Monday with attempted computer
tampering and coercion, said Lt. Lawrence Mulvey of the Nassau County
police.
The article explains that the maximum penalties are 4-7 years and up to $5,000
in fines. The client, William Haberman, owner of Forecast Inc., a furniture
company in Westbury, complained about poor performance in a program sold by
MJL Design and refused to pay the full invoice when the vendor allegedly
ignored his complaints.
According to the accusation, Lofaro and Puzzo planted a ``computer virus''
[which I think is simply a logic bomb, judging from the phrasing--MK] and
threatened to detonate it.
The accused were arrested when they came to defuse the logic bomb.
[Surprising to see the old confusion between viruses and logic bombs
persisting in a newswire report.--MK] [Not surprising at all.--PGN]
Michel E. Kabay, Ph.D. Director of Education National Computer Security Assn ["Mich Kabay / JINBU Corp." <75300.3232@compuserve.com> via risks-digest Volume 15, Issue 29]
21:51
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