CONCORD, N.H. — A New Hampshire laundry that pleaded guilty to hacking a competitor’s computer has been sentenced to pay $18,900 in fines, penalties and restitution, plus two years probation, according to federal court records.
In December, General Linen Services LLC of Somersworth, N.H., formerly known as General Linen Service Co. Inc. (General Linen Somersworth), pleaded guilty in federal court to illegally accessing files of similarly named General Linen Services Co. Inc. of Newburyport, Mass. (General Linen Newburyport).
The Federal Bureau of Investigation reports that the facts to which the company agreed in its plea include that in September 2009, its former information technology director accessed, without authority, the computer server of General Linen Newburyport. The IT director then shared the login information with others at General Linen Somersworth, who then repeatedly accessed the competitor’s computer system, downloading approximately 1,100 of the competitor’s invoices for use in sales efforts directed at the competitor’s customers.
The FBI’s examination of the victim’s computer system proved that between September 2009 and April 8, 2010, there were 157 instances of unauthorized access to the victim company’s computer system, and that the majority of those intrusions originated at the office of the defendant, General Linen Somersworth.
“Our company has been victimized by the deliberate and calculated actions of Shane and David Drolet, the owners and management of GL Somersworth, N.H.,” says Diane Whitney, owner of General Linen Newburyport. “We are the victims, yet we have paid thousands and thousands of dollars to law firms, accountants, and forensic experts. I shall be looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life, wondering who has our information and what awaits us. My family asks for two things: protection and justice.”
In response to American Laundry News’ request for comment on the matter, an attorney representing General Linen Somersworth provided a prepared statement from the company. In it, General Linen Somersworth took full responsibility for the incident, acknowledged the serious nature of its mistake and accepted the court’s sentence.
“We have taken several steps to ensure that this can never happen again,” continues General Linen Somersworth in its statement. “These include implementing controls and procedures to make certain that every employee complies at all times with federal regulations regarding computer use.
“In addition, we created two new supervisory positions to ensure that all employees operate with appropriate oversight. We have also updated our computer hardware and software to better secure information and to enable more robust monitoring of all computer use.”
General Linen Somersworth faced a maximum sentence of five years probation and up to a $500,000 fine and restitution related to the charges.
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