Harry R. Haldeman, the District Attorney for Los Angeles, announced the arrest of Doug Wilson for cyber attacks on the traffic control system for the County. Wilson was indicted yesterday after his accomplice outlined the two-year system intrusion for a grand jury. Wilson was released on $250,000 bail pending trial later this year.
Haldeman told reporters this morning that Wilson had hatched the scheme to modify data in the traffic control system to make it easier for people living in his new development in San Ferando Valley, Agrestic, to reach the business district in downtown Los Angeles. “A hacker in his employ modified the timing controls on traffic lights on the main route between Agrestic and downtown to reduce the average transit time;” he said, “This resulted in more delays and traffic congestion along routes that intersected the Agrestic traffic.”
Haldeman did not name the hacker, but people familiar with the grand jury testimony report that it was Silas Botwin that was responsible for the modifications to the Robotron Verkehrskontrolle system that the County installed three years ago. Sources close to the investigation say that Botwin modified data from sensors on and around the route which caused the system to run green lights longer along the Agrestic route, cutting transit times.
Francis C. Whelan, the attorney representing Wilson told reporters at a separate news conference, that Botwin was solely responsible for the attacks. “He had worked for Hodes Automation, the company that installed the Robotron system for the County,” Whelan said, “He was fired shortly after the installation was completed for drug related problems. These attacks were in part retribution for the firing and part helping his sister-in-law who lives in Agrestic and works downtown.”
Up until yesterday, the sales web site for the Agrestic development touted the short transit times to downtown Los Angeles.
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