Developer Convicted For 'Kill Switch' Code Activated Upon His Termination

A 55-year-old software developer faces up to 10 years in prison after being convicted for deploying malicious code that sabotaged his former employer's network, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses. Davis Lu was convicted by a jury for causing intentional damage to protected computers owned by power management company Eaton Corp., the US Department of Justice announced Friday. Lu, who worked at Eaton for 11 years, became disgruntled after a 2018 corporate "realignment" reduced his responsibilities. He created malicious code that deleted coworker profile files, prevented logins, and caused system crashes. His most destructive creation was a "kill switch" named "IsDLEnabledinAD" that automatically activated upon his termination in 2019, disrupting Eaton's global operations. Lu admitted to creating some malicious code but plans to appeal the verdict.

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