A former cybersecurity consultant, Vincent Cannady, was recently arrested for attempting to extort up to $1.5 million from a publicly traded IT services provider. The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, announced that Cannady threatened to disclose the company’s confidential information unless his demands were met. After being terminated from his role, Cannady downloaded sensitive company information without authorization and uploaded it to his personal cloud storage. He then demanded a 10-year Certificate of Deposit for $1.5 million, threatening to release the information if the company didn’t settle his claims for discrimination and emotional distress.
Cannady, who was working with the company through a staffing agency, sought to include provisions in a draft settlement that would prohibit the company from pursuing criminal charges against him. The FBI led the investigation, and Cannady now faces charges of Hobbs Act extortion, which carries a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison. The case highlights the risks of insider threats and the importance of safeguarding sensitive information, especially when employee engagements end.
Source: DataBreaches
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