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back to article IT pro admits stealing 8.4M consumer records

A senior database administrator for a consumer reporting agency in Florida has admitted stealing more than 8.4 million account records and selling them to a data broker. He netted $580,000 over five years from the scheme. William Gary Sullivan, a DBA for Fidelity National Information Services, faces up to 10 years in federal …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    Remaining proceeds?

    $500k in fines, then repay victims with "remaining proceeds"? Shouldn't he instead pay *all* the money directly to the victims? Why does the gov get 500k?

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  2. yeah, right.

    @ Gardner

    Because most governments are nothing more than organized crime made "legal" by assertion, and no matter who loses, they always win?

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  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @Gardner/Yeah, right.

    If the records were used for marketing purposes (as per the story) what material loss would the victims have suffered?

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  4. James Pels

    remining proceeds...

    I think the remaining proceeds are independent of the fine, i.e. whatever is left of the money has to be repaid and the govt. gets an additional $500k (who gets first dibs on his cash if he doesn't have enough to pay the fine is anyone's guess, but I would have thought the fine would reflect his financial situation?)

    'course, I could be wrong and the gov't are really just a bunch of filthy cheating scumbags...

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  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Silly fines

    What is the purpose of a half million dollar fine? To make the fellow destitute for the rest of his life after he gets out of jail? He won't be able to find work in the DBA field after the conviction.

    If anyone has raised their financial status above the ordinary by criminal means, and is then required to "surrender" their proceeds (returning them to the financial norm) they won't have enough money to pay a 6-figure fine. Adding "damages" (what, 10 cents apiece for wasted time chucking the junk?) of another $840k is pure theatre.

    I can understand the desire to deter the pernicious increase in spam, but are these punishments really proportionate to the harm? Violent offenders get less.

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  6. adnim

    Who else employs IT Professionals?

    Don't worry I'm sure all your data is safe.

    @ Yeah Right,

    I would fall about laughing at your observation if it wasn't so frighteningly true.

    @Doc Dish

    Time, if one classes time as a material resource. I guess annoyance, nuisance, invasion of privacy are not material resources.

    I must add, my experience of IT professionals is such that the vast majority ARE honest and diligent.

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  7. Sceptical Bastard

    In America...

    ... people go to all the bother of stealing data then selling it.

    In Britain, on the other hand, our government just gives it away on CDs.

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  8. fred bloggs
    Pirate

    Silly fine

    Multiply 5.8 mIllion by the cost of informing the users, and it soons adds up. i think the perp should have to do hard labor for the next 20 years.

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  9. Anonymous Coward
    Pirate

    Forced labor in a call center

    I would think that by now the criminals had all our data or at least enough to be getting on with.

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