Investigations

On June 15, 2018, Andre Victorian of Ellicott City, Maryland, was sentenced in U.S. District Court, Baltimore, Maryland, for criminal charges related to the unauthorized access of a protected computer system resulting in damage. Victorian was sentenced to 18 months’ probation, $27,510.10 in restitution, and a $100 special assessment fee. He pleaded guilty on March 14, 2018.

 

Victorian admitted that he intentionally accessed an FAA procurement system known as PRISM. He previously had a contract to maintain PRISM, but in 2014 FAA awarded the job to a different contractor. Victorian’s work for the Agency ended on August 27, 2014.

 

Shortly afterward, the PRISM database experienced unexplained slowdowns. FAA discovered that on August 27, 2014, an unauthorized intruder accessed the PRISM system and issued commands to delete data, which changed the configuration of the database and dramatically slowed system performance for authorized users. Further investigation revealed that the intruder accessed PRISM again, on September 8, 2014, to delete logs with evidence of his prior unauthorized access.

 

Analysis of the network activity and connections identified Victorian as the intruder on both occasions. He also logged on with the username issued to him while he was an FAA contractor.