indica News Bureau-
An Indian student was sentenced to a year in prison for damaging computer equipment owned by The College of Saint Rose, announced the U.S. Attorney’s office in the Northern District of New York.
Vishwanath Akuthota, a 27-year-old of Albany, New York who was a student at The College of Saint Rose in Albany, New York was sentenced on Tuesday, Aug 13 to a prison sentence for 12 months, and one year of supervised release, for intentionally damaging a computer.
27-year-old Akuthota was also ordered to pay restitution of $58,471, according to the press release.
Akuthota has been in custody since he was arrested in North Carolina on February 22, 2019, and pleaded guilty, admitting that on February 14, 2019, he inserted a “USB Killer” device into 66 computers, as well as numerous computer monitors and computer-enhanced podiums, owned by the college in Albany.
The “USB Killer” device, when inserted into a computer’s USB port, sends a command causing the computer’s on-board capacitors to rapidly charge and then discharge repeatedly, thereby overloading and physically destroying the computer’s USB port and electrical system.
He admitted that he intentionally destroyed the computers, and recorded himself doing so using his iPhone, including making statements such as “I’m going to kill this guy” before inserting the USB Killer into a computer’s USB port.
