Sysadmin under house arrest for blackmailing finance company

by Sharon Gaudin

November 13, 2008 —

A systems administrator accused of trying to blackmail his former employer out of money and even good job references after being laid off was ordered Thursday to remain confined to his home.

Viktor Savtyrev, 29, of Old Bridge, N.J., was arrested at his home Monday morning, just five days after making his first threat against Third Avenue Management, LLC, a mutual fund management company with about US$15 billion in assets and more than 75 employees.

At a bail hearing Thursday morning in U.S. District Court in Newark, N.J., Savtyrev was ordered to 24-hour home confinement, and all computers and Internet devices must be removed from the premises, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth Kosto.

Savtyrev was also ordered to surrender his travel documents and post a $200,000 secured property bond.

"This [case] is important, especially at this time of layoffs and financial difficulties, because we're making it clear that people can't take their frustrations out on companies and employers," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Erez Liebermann. "This arrest should also send a message to other companies that extra vigilance is important right now."

Savtyrev did not enter a plea Thursday. His attorney, Robert Stahl at Stahl Farella, LLC, told Computerworld he plans on entering a not-guilty plea.

"He had no ability or intention to carry out anything," added Stahl. "You have someone who got laid off and was under a great deal of financial and emotional stress. Obviously, layoffs affect people who are working hard and getting by paycheck to paycheck. Sometimes they don't handle it as well as they should."

Kosto, however, said the crime lies in the threat.

"The threats, whether or not carried out, engender a tremendous amount of resources and response," he added. "The crime is making the threat with the intent to extort money."

A spokeswoman for Third Avenue Management said Savtyrev was employed as a systems administrator there for five years. He was let go, along with nine other employees, on Nov. 5. A criminal complaint filed with the court noted that all of the laid-off workers were given a severance package.

Late in the morning of Thursday, Nov. 6, Savtyrev allegedly used a Gmail account to e-mail the company's general counsel and three other employees, saying he was "not satisfied with the terms" of his severance, according to FBI Special Agent Gerald Cotellesse in the complaint. Savtyrev allegedly threatened to cause extensive damage to the company's computer servers if it would not increase his severance pay, extend his medical coverage and provide "excellent" job references.

The sysadmin also threatened to alert the media after attacking the server.

According to the complaint, the company contacted law enforcement personnel the day of Savtyrev's first alleged threat. That evening, at the direction of investigators, a company employee recorded a phone call in which Savtyrev allegedly repeated his demands. During the call, he also allegedly said he would get his "comrades from Belarus" to help him hack into the company's servers.

Savtyrev allegedly sent a second e-mail to the company on Friday, Nov. 7, and in a taped phone conversation that evening agreed to show company officials how he would exploit the systems in return for meeting his demands, the complaint said.

The criminal complaint notes that in a third e-mail sent on Saturday, Savtyrev said that he had opened several back doors in the company's computer system and that it would take months to find them.

Computerworld