Contractor Rejected for Employment Allegedly Infected Power Firm's Network

The Cleveland man was indicted for sending malware designed to destroy data on computers at Eaton, after the company did not hire him for a position.

Arturas Samoilovas, 35, had worked as a financial analyst contractor there from November 2013 to May 21, 2014. He applied for several other jobs at Eaton prior to the expiration of his employment contract, but was not hired, according to the indictment.

The malware was discovered after the suspect contacted a former co-worker, and disclosed the existence of the malicious code.

"This defendant sought to disrupt a company's operations through its computer system," said U.S Attorney Steven Dettelbach.

"If activated," said Stephen Anthony, special agent in charge of the FBI's Cleveland office, "the malware would have caused significant damage to Eaton Corporation's internal computer network.”