A former US Nuclear Regulatory Commission employee has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for an attempted spear-phishing attack on Department of Energy computers.
Charles Harvey Eccleston, 62, a former employee of the US Department of Energy and the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for his role in the attempted attack.
The sentencing was announced by Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin, US Attorney Channing D. Phillips of the District of Columbia, and Assistant Director in Charge Paul M. Abbate of the FBI’s Washington Field Office.
Eccleston pleaded guilty on February 2, 2016, in the US District Court for the District of Columbia to one count of attempted unauthorized access and intentional damage to a protected computer.
In his guilty plea, Eccleston admitted scheming to cause damage to the computer network of the DOE through emails that he believed would deliver a computer virus to particular employees.
Eccleston was terminated from his employment at the NRC in 2010 and was detained by Philippine authorities in Manila, Philippines, on March 27, 2015, and deported to the United States to face US criminal charges.
He has been in custody ever since.
“Eccleston’s sentence holds him accountable for his attempt to compromise, exploit and damage US government computer systems that contained sensitive nuclear weapon-related information with the intent of allowing foreign nations to gain access to that information or to damage essential systems,” said Assistant Attorney General Carlin.
“One of our highest priorities in the National Security Division remains protecting our national assets from cyber intrusions. We must continue to evolve and remain vigilant in our efforts and capabilities to confront cyber-enabled threats and aggressively detect, disrupt and deter them,” he added.
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Key Facts
- State: District of Columbia
- Category: Cybercrime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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