Batley IT worker jailed after revenge cyber attack costs Huddersfield company £200,000 in lost business

Mohammed Umar Taj, aged 31, of Hyrst Garth, Batley, was sentenced at Leeds Crown Court on June 26 (Thursday) for seven months and 14 days after he admitted a charge of committing unauthorised acts with intent to impair the operation of or hindering access to a computer at a previous hearing.

Taj was suspended from work in July 2022, and within hours began to “take revenge” on the Huddersfield-based employer.

He caused significant disruption to the company causing them to lose at least £200,000 in lost business as well as reputational harm.

Taj gained access to the company’s premises and unlawfully accessed computer systems to deliberately alter login credentials to disrupt the company’s day to day activities.

A day later, Taj changed access credentials and the company’s multi-factor authentication so that he could adversely impact the activities of the firm’s clients in the UK, and in Germany and Bahrain.

He kept recordings of his activities and discussed the attack on phone recordings recovered forensically by investigators from West Yorkshire Police’s cyber team.

Detective Sergeant Lindsey Brants of West Yorkshire Police’s Cyber Crime Team said: “Taj set out to get revenge on his employer following his suspension from work.

“He did so by targeting their IT system, which he had privileged access to.

“By doing this he created a ripple effect of disruption far beyond the shores of the UK.

“Protecting your network prevents data loss and costly cyber attacks. It also maintains trust with clients and stakeholders.

“We urge all businesses to look at their network security.”