Scott Burns, a former ICT employee at British airline Jet2.com Limited (or simply Jet2), has been sentenced to 10 months in prisonafter being accused of hacking into the company's systems and disrupting the company's computers for over 12 hours.
Jet2 is one of the largest airlines in the UK and has been operating for over 30 years.
Authorities arrested the 27-year-old former airline employee on February 8, 2018. They also seized various electronic devices from his home, including computers and phones.
Burns pleaded guilty to eight offences under the Computer Misuse Act and was sentenced at Leeds Crown Court yesterday.
Jet2 network breach
Scott Burns worked with Jet2 until December 2017. He later moved to another airline. Dissatisfied with the airline, he decided to hack into his Jet2 account in January 2018.
“After gaining access to Jet2’s network on January 18, Burns removed a folder that stored all of the user account details , preventing at least 2,000 staff from logging into their network accounts and accessing their emails,” the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) said.
Analysis of his seized electronic devices showed that Burns had re-entered the airline's network on January 3. This allowed him to "assess the security of the systems and prepare for his subsequent attack."
Burns had also hacked the airline's CEO's email and frequently logged in to check for evidence against him and to view discussions about the incident.
While he was on the company's network, he tried to erase any evidence that would incriminate him.
Conversations found on his phone show Burns saying he was “tired of Jet2” and considered himself “free” when their partnership ended. He was also found to have Googled information about what the law on illegal network penetration in the UK provides.
"Network hacking is not a victimless. Burns' actions caused financial losses to Jet2 and caused problems for his staff and his business," said NCA investigator Jamie Horncastle.
