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A former student has admitted to causing thousands of dollars’ worth of damage to computer equipment owned by the College of St. Rose, a private nonprofit institution in Albany, N.Y.
Vishwanath Akuthota pleaded guilty this week to destroying 66 college computers as well as computer monitors and lecture hall podiums worth more than $58,000, according to the U.S. attorney's office in New York.
Akuthota used a USB Killer to destroy the computers. The device is small and looks like an ordinary USB thumb drive, but it sends a command that causes high-voltage power surges that can damage computer hardware.
Akuthota admitted he intentionally destroyed the computers and recorded himself doing so on his iPhone. In the video, he made comments such as “I’m going to kill this guy” before inserting the USB Killer device.
Akuthota, 27, is an Indian national who is in the U.S. on a student visa. He is due to be sentenced in the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of New York in August. He has already agreed to pay back $58,471 in restitution to the college but faces up to 10 years in prison and a possible fine of up to $250,000.
