Vamsikrishna Naganathanahalli, Damaging Computers, California 2023

Dublin man faces 10 years in prison and $250,000 fine after allegedly damaging computers belonging to his former employer.

Vamsikrishna Naganathanahalli, 47, of Dublin, Calif., was indicted by a federal grand jury in Oakland and charged with a felony related to the alleged improper accessing and damaging of a protected computer.

According to the indictment, Naganathanahalli accessed a computer system belonging to his former employer, Vituity, after his company login privileges had been revoked. The indictment alleges that he used his access to the computer system to replace real data with masked data, causing damage to an important Vituity database.

Vituity is a group of related companies based in Emeryville, Calif., including physician partnerships and other entities. The indictment alleges that Naganathanahalli was informed that his employment with Vituity would be terminated in mid-June 2022, but before his last day on the job, he changed a password to another employee’s account so he would be able to gain access to a Vituity computer system after access to Vituity’s computers using his own password was revoked.

Defendant was arrested on May 25, 2023, and made his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kandis A Westmore in federal court in Oakland. Magistrate Judge Westmore ordered Naganathanahalli released on a $100,000 bond.

The indictment alleges that in September 2022, Naganathanahalli used the changed password to access a Vituity computer system remotely, change yet another employee’s password, and then use that employee’s account to overwrite the company’s personnel data. In doing so, Naganathanahalli uploaded generic, “masked” data to overwrite the real data for thousands of current and former employees.

An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If convicted, Naganathanahalli faces a maximum sentence of 10 years of imprisonment, and a fine of $250,000, plus restitution if appropriate for each violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1030(a)(5)(A), (c)(4)(A)(i)(I).

Naganathanahalli’s next scheduled appearance is at 2 p.m. on June 15, 2023, for before the Honorable Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, U.S. District Judge for a review of case status.

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