ALBANY, NEW YORK
A federal judge this week sentenced a twenty-seven-year-old woman to a year in prison for damaging computer equipment that belonged to The College of St. Rose, according to authorities.
Vishwanath Akuthota, also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $58,471, officials stated.
In pleading guilty, officials stated that Akuthota admitted 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.
Akuthota is a citizen of India, residing in the U.S. on a student visa. He has been in custody since he was arrested in North Carolina on February 22, officials stated.