UK IT tech jailed for shutting down school network in lockdown

Tech's "boredom" cost students coursework and families their photographs

A resentful IT technician from Wellingborough has been sentenced to prison for launching cyber assaults against two of his former employers - a school and an IT firm - after he was sacked from both.

Adam Georgeson, 29, from Robin Lane in Wellingborough, appeared at Leicester Crown Court on Friday, where he was sentenced to 21 months in jail after pleading guilty to two charges of computer abuse.

Georgeson began working at Welland Park Academy in Market Harborough, Leicestershire, as an apprentice in December 2016.

However, he didn't tell the school that he had two prior fraud convictions (for placing Gumtree advertisements selling computers he didn't own and couldn't deliver), and was sacked in February 2017 as a result.

He later joined an IT firm in Rutland called Millennium Computer Services. He was still employed there when he launched the cyber-attack on the school on 16th January 2021, though he did it from his private computer.

Georgeson remotely accessed the school's IT systems and began wiping data. He also erased data from PCs belonging to parents and students who were using the school's system, and changed a number of staff members' passwords.

Georgeson's activities meant nobody was able to access the school's IT systems for nearly ten days, impacting remote learning at a time when teachers and students had to stay at home because of the pandemic.

Georgeson's precise method was not described in court documents, but local police said his actions involved 14 different steps.

He told the police that he infiltrated the school's system and began deleting files because he was bored. However, he soon realised his acts could be traced and he would be discovered, so he became even more vicious.

He completely erased 125 devices, including those belonging to 39 families.

When he was detained on 22nd January 2021, police described Georgeson's actions as a 'sophisticated cyber attack'.

One parent testified in front of the Crown Court that he had lost 1,000 family photos, and a mother said her son's laptop had factory-reset itself as if it was brand new.

Over a month later, on 9th March 2021, Leicestershire Police received a report from Millennium Computer Services about several unauthorised and malicious actions against their own systems.

The changes made included amending passwords and adjusting the company's phone system used to contact customers.

Georgeson was identified as a suspect, and it was discovered Millennium had asked him to quit in February.

When Georgeson appeared at Leicester Crown Court in October 2021, he pleaded guilty to two charges of unauthorised conduct with the intent to damage the functioning of or prevent/hinder access to a computer.

In mitigation, Georgeson's lawyer, Kevin Barry, told the court that his client suffered from anxiety and depression.

"These were revenge attacks," Judge Mark Watson said on Friday as he sentenced Georgeson to 21 months in jail.

"You made deliberate efforts to sabotage the networks of your victims. You went out of your way to destroy your victims' networks. Your actions, towards both sets of victims, were committed out of spite and revenge."

Georgeson is expected to serve less than a year of his 21-month sentence in jail under existing UK sentencing laws.