Feds allege plot to destroy Fannie Mae data

Breitbart ^ | 1/30/09 | staff

[xtinct]

URBANA, Md. (AP) - The Justice Department says it foiled a plot by a fired Fannie Mae contract worker in Maryland to destroy all the data on the mortgage giant's 4,000 computer servers nationwide. The U.S. Attorney's Office says 35-year-old Rajendrasinh Makwana, of Glen Allen, Va., is scheduled for arraignment Friday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore on one count of computer intrusion.

U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein says Makwana was fired Oct. 24.

Rosenstein says that on that day, Makwana programmed a computer with a malicious code that was set to spread throughout the Fannie Mae network and destroy all data this Saturday.

[rfp1234]

He’s a Virginia resident...it was a “Makwana moment”.

[penelopesire]

oops..my bad. missed the word: ‘because’. Thanks for clarifying.

[JRandomFreeper]

“Despite Makwana’s termination, [his] computer access was not immediately terminated,”

That's just wrong. When I walked out of the last place because of a dispute with the rest of the BOD, I left HR step by step instructions on how to delete my access to ALL my accounts, and got a signed affidavit saying my accounts were locked.

/johnny

[wagyu steak]

Bwarny Fwank raided Fannie & Freddie...
Does that make him a Fannie Bandit?

[Ulysse]

ping

[penelopesire]

Something just doesn’t seem right about this story. Of course, sometimes my instincts are spot on and other times...well..not so much...lol!

[combat_boots]

“The Ayatollah Khomeni returned to Iran on 1 Feb, 1979. http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/religion/ayatollah-khomeni/ “

You have my attention.

Great post.

[Liberty Valance]

bttt
part 2: The cover-up

[philman_36]

Feds allege plot to destroy Fannie Mae data
Makwana, a citizen of India, was fired early on the afternoon of Oct. 24 from his job at Fannie Mae's data center in Urbana...
Snip...Before surrendering his Fannie Mae badge and laptop computer at the end of the day...
Snip...According to the affidavit signed by FBI Special Agent Jessica A. Nye Jan. 6, a Fannie Mae engineer discovered the malicious instructions by chance Oct. 29. The programming instructions were removed that day and did no harm, according to the affidavit.

What is that stinky fish smell?

I guess somebody is going to have to look at what was happening at Fannie Mae around Oct. 24...

[ViLaLuz]

“that would be no more than an inconvenience unless, by some unbelievable fault, Fannie Mae created no backups.”

I’m sure Barney Frank would have demanded that Fannie Mae back up.

[philman_36]

http://blog.gop.house.gov
On October 20, 2008, House Republicans sent a letter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey requesting that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac be included in the Operation Malicious Mortgage investigation being conducted by the Department of Justice.

[r9etb]

I’m sure Barney Frank would have demanded that Fannie Mae back up.

But only if the name had a biologically male connotation....

[Gandalf_The_Gray]

Rosenstein says that on that day, Makwana programmed a computer with a malicious code that was set to spread throughout the Fannie Mae network and destroy all data this Saturday.

Yeah, he might have been able to fry the hard drives in all the servers but he sure wasn't gonna be able to erase the backup tapes that are run every day by IT pros. If you have data on your machine that is worth something, YOU should be doing backups too!

Regards,
GtG PS You'll never realize what data can cost you 'till you lose a drive, once is way to many.

[LurkedLongEnough]

Bawney Frank

I would second that, and I would also change Frank to "Fwank". ;-)

[LurkedLongEnough]

Wow, this is a big one. But... he’s out on bail.

[metmom]

The guy might just be a patsy for the real perps! Who gets fired for ‘changing settings’? This happened back in October and we are just now finding out about it? Something stinks!!

That's what I was thinking. I have an accountant friend whose company boss wanted her to fix the books. She refused and almost lost her job for it. They found someone else to do it.

It was found out and the guy ended up losing HIS job and going to jail for it.

I think you're spot on.

[metmom]

Snip...According to the affidavit signed by FBI Special Agent Jessica A. Nye Jan. 6, a Fannie Mae engineer discovered the malicious instructions by chance Oct. 29. The programming instructions were removed that day and did no harm, according to the affidavit.

By chance? Anyone who could program something that malicious would have made sure to hide it well, cover his tracks, and avoid that. That sounds a little too convenient to me.

[penelopesire]

Don’t encourage me....lol. I have a suspicious mind and was once told by an ex cia dude that I should go into the biz....lol.

Seriously though..something doesn’t add up and I can see the whole thing like a Tom Clancy novel. I will admit to a bit of bias right now though. I had the pleasure of meeting one of the most inspiring people in my life(a hindu) through my sister many moons ago. He had a top security clearance from our government and was a techie genius! The government actually investigated our whole family just because we knew him before he was granted clearance, etc.

America should be careful about visas and backgrounds...but America should also understand that many people from India, especially Hindus, are the most solid folks around and they have first hand experience of the ruthless aggression that is radical Islam.

Dinesh DiSouza comes to mind, as well as Bobby Jindal who descends from India as well.

It would be a travesty to refuse talent like that in this country because they come from another country and a sin to set one of those people up for some political sham.

[philman_36]

That sounds a little too convenient to me.
Aye. Given the action date I referenced above in #71 the Fannie Mae engineer might have been...persuaded...to just go ahead and make sure everything was secure.
And don't you find it interesting that this is just now coming out when this all happened three whole months ago?! Talk about lag time!

My electricity dropped out shortly after I posted that reply and I had some errands to run so I'll be getting back to seeing what else was going on in Oct. and early Nov. tomorrow.