A senior software developer has been found guilty of sabotaging his former employer’s systems and is now facing up to 10 years behind bars. Davis Lu, 55, from Houston, Texas, was employed by Eaton Corporation from 2007 to 2019 and introduced malware onto the company’s production systems in August 2019.
Lu created a “kill switch” that locked employees out of their accounts when his credentials were revoked, causing widespread damage and locking thousands of employees worldwide out of the network. The kill switch was activated after Lu was let go from his position on September 9, 2019.
The federal jury in Cleveland found Lu guilty of sabotage, despite his attempts to plead not guilty. The investigation revealed that Lu had deleted encrypted data, attempted to wipe his laptop’s operating system directories, and sought advice on escalating privileges.
Source: https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/08/developer_server_kill_switch