A former student has pleaded guilty to intentionally causing damage of over $58,000 to 66 protected computers owned by the college of St. Rose.
Vishwanath Akuthota, 27, who is an Indian national living in the US on a student visa has been in custody since he was arrested in North Carolina in February this year for destroying 59 Windows PCs, 7 Apple Computers and several digital monitors and podiums that makes use of USB ports.
According to a press release by the Department of Justice, US Attorney's Office, Northern District of New York, Akuthota recorded himself destroying some of the computers on his iPhone.
"Akuthota admitted that he intentionally destroyed the computers, and recorded himself doing so using his iPhone, including making statements such as 'I'm going to kill this guy' before inserting the USB Killer into a computer's USB port," the justice website read. "Akuthota also admitted that his actions caused $58,471 in damage, and has agreed to pay restitution in that amount to the college."
The USB Killer device when plugged into any computer system USB port, sends a command that causes the computer on-board capacitor to rapidly charge until it reaches a high voltage and then discharges back into the host device repeatedly, overloading until it physically destroys the computer;s USB port and electrical system.
Akuthota graduated from the College of Saint Rose in 2017 with a master's degree in Business. His sentencing comes up on August 12, faces up to 10 years in prison, a fine of $250,000 and a term of post-imprisonment supervised release of up to three years.