Disgruntled ex-care worker used manager's password to delete visits

Blackburn Magistrates Court
-Credit:James Maloney/LancsLive


A disgruntled former employee used a senior manager's password to delete and cancel scheduled visits for those in need. Samina Arshad, 40 of Crawford Street in Nelson, remotely logged onto the system of her ex-employer - a care company based in East Lancashire - by using the password of a senior manager.

On May 31, Arshad logged on and cancelled 245 scheduled visits to people in need, which prevented staff from viewing any details. The next day she logged on again and accessed the section of the system which stored all of their service users’ details alongside each scheduled visit that person was due to receive for that day and beyond, before deleting it all.

In doing so, Arshad disrupted the company’s operations and put their service users at personal risk. Lancashire Police say the cyber attack was all motivated by a sense of grievance over the circumstances in which she left the company’s employment.

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The company contacted Lancashire Police on June 3 and an investigation was launched by the Cyber Crime Unit. Arshad, 40, of Crawford Street, Nelson, pleaded guilty to two counts of doing an unauthorised act with intent to impair the operation of, or to prevent/hinder access to a computer.

She appeared at Blackburn Magistrates Court on Wednesday, January 9 and was given a 12-month prison sentence suspended for 12 months, ordered to do 60 hours community service and pay £3,000 compensation to the care company.

Det Con Joe Harper of the force Cyber Crime Unit, said: “I welcome the sentence imposed by the court which reflects the extreme distress that this crime caused the victim’s service users – to say nothing of the damage to the victim’s business. As this case shows, insider threats – whether current or former employers – can pose a significant risk to any business’ computer systems.

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“However, addressing that risk can be simple. We advise that businesses make a New Year resolution to be serious about their cyber security and consider the advice and services offered by the not-for-profit police-led partnership of the North West Cyber Resilience Centre.

“Anyone, whether a business of any size or simply a resident of Lancashire, can find online safety guidance on the National Cyber Security Centre’s website.”