Stocks, viruses and a disgruntled employee

A systems administrator has been charged with attempting to manipulate a company's stock price by introducing a virus into its computer system.

The New York Times reports that a systems administrator has been indicted on federal charges of trying to manipulate the stock price of his employer's parent company by introducing a virus into its computer system.

According to the newspaper, the indictment said that, in February and March 2002, suspect Roger Duronio purchased a type of security which increases in value as a company's stock price declines.

Duronio then introduced a virus to 1,000 of the 1,500 computers used by broker firm UBS PaineWebber in the hopes that the stock price of parent company UBS would fall - however the virus failed to cause sufficient disruption to alter the UBS stock price.

Duronio's lawyer stated that his client would be pleading not guilty to the charges.

18 December 2002

Tags: virus del.icio.us digg this