Tag Archive for: jailed

Norwich doctor jailed for secretly filming women

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Published:
9:07 AM November 20, 2021



A doctor from Norwich who hacked personal photo accounts and used hidden cameras to spy on women has been jailed.

Vinesh Godhania, 33, from Marlingford Way, was jailed for two years and eight months at St Albans Crown Court on Friday (November 19).

He had pleaded guilty to seven counts of voyeurism and eight counts of unauthorised access to computer material.

The offences were committed from 2012 until 2020, when Godhania was initially a medical student and then went on to qualify as a doctor.

He was arrested in November 2020 following an investigation by the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit (ERSOU).

Godhania admitted to setting up covert cameras to film a number of victims without their knowledge.

He also used key logging software on NHS computers to fraudulently obtain data relating to both colleagues and passwords.

He also admitted to hacking a number of women’s iCloud accounts, gaining access of sexually explicit photos of them, as well as personal information such as passwords.

Detective Sergeant Ian Russell, from ERSOU’s cyber crime unit, said: “These were despicable actions by a man in a position of trust, and I’m really pleased he will now be facing time behind bars.

“I’d like to thank the victims for their bravery throughout this case. It’s thanks to their support and courage that Godhania has been jailed.

“This abhorrent behaviour is never acceptable and we will work hard to ensure that those who look to take advantage of others in this sickening way are identified and made to face the consequences of their actions.”

The ERSOU’s Cyber Protection team have given the following advice on how to avoid being a victim of cyber crime: 

1. Use a strong and separate password for your email account
2. Create strong passwords using two random words
3. Save your passwords in your browser – this is safer than using weak passwords or the same password for each site
4. Turn on two-factor authentication (2FA)
5. Update your devices
6. Back up your data
For more detailed advice and guidance to safeguard your online presence,  visit the National Cyber Security Centre website: Cyber Aware – NCSC.GOV.UK

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Sandwell man jailed for hacking US citizen's Instagram

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A man whom police say illegally accessed the social media account of a US citizen and then tried to blackmail them has been jailed. As well as hacking into the victim’s Instagram account, Gurvinder …

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“Foolish” university hacker jailed after selling exam papers to fellow students

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A former student at the University of South Wales has been sentenced to 20 months in prison, after hacking into the institution’s computer systems and selling the answers to exam papers for thousands of pounds.

As BBC News reports, 29-year-old Hayder Ali Jasim (sometimes known as Hayder Aljayyash), was studying for a master’s degree in embedded system design at the University of South Wales when he succeeded in gaining unauthorised access to examination papers, coursework, marking and reports.

During lectures in the university’s engineering and computer science faculty, Jasim deployed keyloggers that secretly recorded keypresses, and stored them in a file.  In this way, he was able to steal the passwords of university staff.

Between November 2018 and May 2019, Jasim was said to have used the stolen credentials to log in more than 700 times, downloading 216 files.

Jasim monetised the stolen information by working working alongside his fellow student and housemate accomplice, 30-year-old Noureldien Eltarki, who sold copies of the exam papers and answer sheets to students for thousands of pounds.

The hack was only discovered when mathematics lecturer Liam Harris noticed that a number of students had made spelling errors in their answers which matched mistakes the lecturer had made himself on his official answer sheet.

A subsequent investigation into the suspected cheating revealed that login accounts belonging to 17 members of staff had been compromised, and an IP address was linked to a property not far from the university’s campus.

Police arrested Jasim on May 30 2019, and computing equipment and £17,000 worth of cash were seized at the property.  A significant amount of stolen university data was subsequently found on the computers found at the address which Jasim shared with Eltarki.

In an interview with the police, Eltarki confessed that he had sold exam scripts to students for as much as £6,500 – with most of the proceeds going to Jasim.

The court was told that the university’s investigation into its data breach, and the subsequent new security measures it had introduced, had cost it over £100,000.

That’s clearly a lot of money for any educational organisation to find itself having…

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Former Cisco exec jailed for fraud, dodging taxes • The Register

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A former Cisco executive was this month sentenced to 36 months in a US prison, and ordered to pay more than $3.6m in fines, for wire fraud and tax violations.

Former senior director of Cisco’s global supplier management operation, Prithviraj “Roger” Bhikha, admitted in November last year, as he pleaded guilty, that he took kickbacks to the tune of $1.15m while sourcing suppliers on Cisco’s behalf.

A supplier that hoped to do business with Cisco paid money to a Hong Kong company Bhikha created, called Lucena. Lucena was later transferred under his wife’s name. Bhikha then hired Lucena to provide Cisco with price negotiation services.

Cisco had no idea what was going on.

Lucena and an affiliated Singapore-based company pulled in a cool $10.06m from Cisco between August 2014 and April 2017. Bhikha even concealed his efforts to distance himself from Lucena by having a fake CEO attend a 2016 Cisco meeting and present fictional data in order to ensure continued business.

Bhikha and his wife extracted $9m from Lucena’s foreign accounts and neglected to include the income on his taxes, resulting in an underpayment of $2.5m.

The business arrangement fell apart in 2017 when Cisco cottoned on to its employee’s illicit dealings.

Interestingly, a court document [PDF] signed by Judge Charles Breyer asserted that Bhikha’s endeavors did benefit Cisco to some extent.

“Bhikha did not simply use his companies to steal money from Cisco without providing anything in return. Consistent with their contractual obligations, his companies negotiated lower prices on behalf of Cisco,” said the filing, adding “Even assuming that the $69 million figure is inflated, there appears to be no dispute that Bhikha’s secretly-owned companies saved Cisco tens of millions of dollars.”

Of the more than $3.6m Bhikha must cough up, $1.15m will go to Cisco, while the…

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