BOSTON, Aug. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- A former employee of Varian Semiconductor
Equipment Associates, Inc., a large high-technology company headquartered in
Gloucester, was charged today in federal court with computer hacking that
caused significant damage to Varian's computer systems.
    United States Attorney Michael J. Sullivan and Kenneth W. Kaiser, Special
Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced that PATRICK
ANGLE, age 34, currently of Columbus, Indiana, has been charged in a one-count
Information with intentionally damaging a protected computer.
    The Information charges that ANGLE, who had worked for Varian, first in
Gloucester and then from his home in Indiana, had become disgruntled with his
employment by September, 2003, and had been told by the company that his
contract would be terminated in October, 2003.  It is alleged that to vent his
frustration with Varian, on September 17, 2003, ANGLE logged into Varian's
computer server in Massachusetts from his Indiana home and intentionally
deleted the source code for the e-commerce software that he and others had
been developing.  He then covered his tracks by editing and deleting some of
the computer logs of activity on the server and by changing the server's root
password to make it difficult for other Varian employees to log on to the
server and assess and repair the damage.
    The software source code that ANGLE deleted had been developed at great
expense to Varian and would have been expensive to reproduce.  Although Varian
was ultimately able to recover the deleted material from backups, the recovery
effort cost the company approximately $26,455.
    If convicted, ANGLE faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, to be
followed by 3 years of supervised release, a fine of up to $250,000, and
restitution.
    The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Varian
reported the crime to the FBI and provided valuable assistance throughout the
investigation.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam
J. Bookbinder in Sullivan's Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property Unit
and by Trial Attorney Scott L. Garland of the U.S. Department of Justice's
Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section.

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