Texas man accused of defrauding health care entity in Washington, Greene counties
A Texas man is facing federal charges that he hacked and damaged 13 computer servers for a health care entity that operates in Greene, Fayette and Washington counties and attempted to make fraudulent purchases using its information.
A federal grand jury in Pittsburgh handed down the two-count indictment Feb. 28 against Brandon A. Coughlin, 29, of Houston, on charges of intentional damage to a protected computer and wire fraud.
Investigators said Coughlin was hired in January 2013 to work as the in-house system administrator of the “healthcare entity,” which is not named in the indictment. He was asked to resign from his position less than three weeks later, although the administrative settings to gain access to the system were not immediately changed. Investigators said two days after his Feb. 4, 2013 resignation, Coughlin created a new administrative account he did not disclose to the company, giving him full access to the network.
Between February and September 2013, authorities said Coughlin hacked the network, disabled all administrative accounts and deleted user information, business date and patient medical records, costing the health care entity about $5,000.
Investigators said Coughlin also used an employee’s credentials multiple times in 2014 while attempting to purchase several iPad Air electronic tablets from an office supply store’s website.
Coughlin waived his arraignment Monday before Chief Magistrate Judge Maureen Kelly, and the case has been assigned to Chief U.S. District Judge Joy Flowers Conti. If convicted, Coughlin faces up to 30 years in prison and a fine of $500,000.