An Indian-American student has pleaded guilty to creating a giant devastating Mirai botnet, which spread via vulnerabilities in Internet-connected devices, resulted in widespread internet disruptions.
Paras Jha, 21, a former Rutgers University student and two other men Josiah White, 20, and Dalton Norman, 21, are pleaded guilty by the federal court on Friday to charges involving computer crimes which includes writing code, sale and use of the two botnets, the Department of Justice announced.
According to court documents, Jha had executed a series of attacks on the networks of Rutgers University between November 2014 and September 2016, which caused a massive damage to the university, its faculty, and its students.
“Paras Jha has admitted his responsibility for multiple hacks of the Rutgers University computer system,” Acting U.S. Attorney William Fitzpatrick said in a statement on Wednesday.
“These computer attacks shut down the server used for all communications among faculty, staff, and students, including assignment of coursework to students, and students’ submission of their work to professors to be graded,” he said.
“The defendant’s actions effectively paralyzed the system for days at a time and maliciously disrupted the educational process for tens of thousands of Rutgers’ students.
“Yesterday, the defendant has admitted his role in this criminal offense and will face the legal consequences for it,” Mr. Fitzpatrick said.
Whereas, Jha’s father, Anand Jha, has denied all allegations against his son. "Nothing of the sort of what has been described here has happened."
Paras Jha, 21, a former Rutgers University student and two other men Josiah White, 20, and Dalton Norman, 21, are pleaded guilty by the federal court on Friday to charges involving computer crimes which includes writing code, sale and use of the two botnets, the Department of Justice announced.
According to court documents, Jha had executed a series of attacks on the networks of Rutgers University between November 2014 and September 2016, which caused a massive damage to the university, its faculty, and its students.
“Paras Jha has admitted his responsibility for multiple hacks of the Rutgers University computer system,” Acting U.S. Attorney William Fitzpatrick said in a statement on Wednesday.
“These computer attacks shut down the server used for all communications among faculty, staff, and students, including assignment of coursework to students, and students’ submission of their work to professors to be graded,” he said.
“The defendant’s actions effectively paralyzed the system for days at a time and maliciously disrupted the educational process for tens of thousands of Rutgers’ students.
“Yesterday, the defendant has admitted his role in this criminal offense and will face the legal consequences for it,” Mr. Fitzpatrick said.
Whereas, Jha’s father, Anand Jha, has denied all allegations against his son. "Nothing of the sort of what has been described here has happened."