Technician Charged in Forbes Sabotage Case

A 30-year-old computer technician was charged with sabotaging the computer system of magazine publisher Forbes Inc. in an attack that authorities said was in retaliation for his being fired as a temporary consultant. George M. Parente of New York used a home computer to enter Forbes’ network April 21--the day he was fired--and caused more than $100,000 worth of havoc, federal law enforcement officials said. Parente allegedly gained access to the system with an unauthorized Forbes password and caused a “massive crash” that disabled five of the network’s eight servers and cut off computer service to hundreds of Forbes employees. Forbes hired Parente for a six-month stint as a technical assistant but decided to fire him after two months because of numerous complaints about his “unprofessional behavior” and “lack of respect toward superiors,” according to the criminal complaint. Parente, charged with felony computer sabotage, faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. He was released Monday on a $50,000 bond. Parente could not be reached for comment Monday.