A 20-year-old California man, Christopher Maxwell, was indicted for hijacking Seattle’s Northwest Hospital’s computer system in a “botnet” attack, according to a Reuters story. Officials say the attack, which was generated from university computers in Michigan and California, shut down the ICU, caused pagers to stop working, prevented doors from opening, and caused $150,000 in damages. Backup computer systems prevented disruptions in patient care. The federal government alleges that Maxwell and two conspirators netted $100,000 by installing adware on the hijacked computers. If convicted, Maxwell could spend a maximum of 10 years in jail and a $250,000 fine.
