Earlier this week, a 37-year-old former IT staff member for the U.S. subsidiary of Japanese drug company, Shionogi, pleaded guilty to the company's IT infrastructure this past February. The damage scrambled the company's operations for days and cost Shionogi more than $800,000 in damages, according to IDG News Service.
The former employee, Jason Cornish, logged in to the network using a hidden virtual server he had previously created, then wiped out the company's virtual servers one by one, taking out e-mail, order tracking, financial and other services, according to IDGNS and . IDGNS also reported that Cronish's former boss at Shionogi refused to turn over network passwords and was eventually fired.
IT security analysts say that incidents like this should be clear reminders that companies need to be working harder to fight back against such attacks on a regular basis using basic security steps and common sense. It is key to remember that intrusion threats can come from within your corporate walls at any time, not just from outside your firewalls.