Former IT Worker Sentenced for Crashing Computers

MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) — An information technology worker who crashed his former employer's computer system just days after being laid off has been given a three-year deferred sentence for unlawful use of a computer.

The Missoulian reports Vladimir Ivanovich Shved was sentenced Thursday by District Judge John Larson.

Shved worked as an IT administrator at Edulog in Missoula before being laid off in late October. Prosecutors say several Edulog computers crashed nearly simultaneously on Nov. 2.

When employees tried to restore the systems, they found the backup servers had been erased.

Court records say Edulog called Shved and offered him an hourly rate to help resolve the problem, but refused his demand of a three- to five-year contract at $100 to $150 an hour.

Edulog provides software for school bus routing and scheduling.