PALM COAST — A Flagler County man and former IT administrator has been arrested by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement on five counts of cyber-related crimes.
Richard Clayton Wozniak, 41, of Palm Coast, was arrested on four counts of offenses against computer users and one count of unlawful use of a two-way communications device, all felonies, according to an FDLE news release.
The arrest is the result of an investigation that began in January when The Spice and Tea Exchange Company in St. Augustine notified FDLE agents of a cyber-attack on the company’s firewall and e-mail. The attack resulted in the deletion and alteration of company data.
The investigation revealed that Wozniak, a former employee at the tea company, had accessed the business networks within minutes of being terminated from his position in their Information Technology department.
He gained unauthorized access to the business network and removed the company’s firewall, which obstructed business continuity and breached the physical security of the company.
With assistance from the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office, Wozniak was arrested on July 9 and was transported to the Flagler County Jail.
The Office of the Statewide Prosecution in Jacksonville is prosecuting the case.
Anyone needing to report a cyber data breach is advised to contact FDLE’s Cybercrime Office at cybercrimeoffice@fdle.state.fl.us.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Former IT professional in Palm Coast arrested on cyber-crime charges
Reporting by Jim Abbott, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
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