A former US ADT employee pleaded guilty of accessing customers’ cameras so he could spy on them.
Ex ADT employee Telesforo Aviles noticed when there were attractive women at a home he serviced in the Dallas, Texas area. Then he would add his personal email address to their accounts so he could have around-the-clock access to their most private moments, according to the US Attorneys’ Office.
US Federal Prison
Now Aviles faces up to 5 years in US Federal Prison for accessing roughly 200 accounts more than 9,600 times without consent, over a 4-&-a-half year period.
“This defendant, entrusted with safeguarding customers’ homes, instead intruded on their most intimate moments,” commented Acting US Attorney Prerak Shah. “We are glad to hold him accountable for this disgusting betrayal of trust.”
Aviles admitted to regularly adding his own email address to customers’ ADT Pulse accounts so he could watch customers in real time without them knowing. The US Attorney’s Office explained Aviles would watch women naked & couples engaged in sex for his own gratification, they outlined.
Accountable
“The defendant used his position of employment to illegally breach the privacy of numerous people,” FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge Matthew J. DeSarno. The FBI works with our law-enforcement partners to thoroughly investigate all cyber-intrusions & hold criminals accountable for their actions.
Cyber-intrusions do not only affect businesses, but also the public. We encourage everyone to practice cyber-hygiene with all their connected devices by reviewing authorised users & routinely changing passwords.”
Unauthorised E-mail
ADT was made aware of the issue on April 23, when a customer called to report an unauthorised email on their account, the company stated.
“Unfortunately, our investigation revealed that during a service visit, one of our Dallas-area technicians had added his personal email address to this customer’s account to gain unauthorised access, & he had done the same thing during service visits with other customers in the Dallas area.”
ADT Reaction
As soon as the company was made aware Aviles was fired & reported to the police.
ADT also contacted each of the customers impacted & the company is doing what they can to address their concerns.
“We apologise to the customers affected by the actions of this former employee & deeply regret this incident,” ADT’s statement explained.
“The ADT mission is to help protect & connect people with the things they love most. Fully earning this trust back may take time, but nothing is more important to us & to those who have served our customers under the ADT banner for the last 145 years.”
Ticketmaster
ADT joins the ranks of many other companies dealing with insider threats on security. Ticketmaster in the US was recently on the receiving end of a $10m fine after several employees hacked a rival company’s computer systems.
Forrester researchers recently explained that the increase in work-from-home & remote employees is likely to ramp-up the rise of insider threats across all industries.
As for ADT, the company is relieved to have this case behind them, announcing the US Attorney’s decision to charge their former employee.
“We are grateful to the Dallas FBI & the US Attorney’s Office for holding Telesforo Aviles responsible for a federal crime.”
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