Clinic Worker Get 5 Years For Hacking

SAN DIEGO (CN) - A computer hacker was sentenced to 5 years and 3 months in prison for damaging computers of health clinics that serve poor people, and ordered to pay $408,000 in restitution to the two clinics. The man hacked into and damaged computers after receiving a poor work evaluation, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

Jon Paul Oson, 38, of Chula Vista, worked at the Council of Community Health Clinics (CCC), where the North County Health Services Clinic stored its computer data. Oson deleted data of the NCHS clinic, which caused financial harm to it, to the CCC, and to member clinics, and hurt patient care at the North County clinic, prosecutors said.

Oson was a network engineer and technical services manager for the CCC from May 2004 until October 2005.

The CCC has 17 members, in San Diego and Imperial Counties; the North County clinic is the largest one. It serves the poor, the uninsured and the underinsured.

The jury found that Oson attacked CCC computers repeatedly after he quit, deleting data and software in several servers, including patient data.

Prosecutors called Oson's 63-month sentence, imposed by U.S. District Judge Thomas Whelan, one of the longest ever for computer hacking in the United States. Oson was ordered to pay $11,359 in restitution to the CCC and $264,979 to North County Health Services. He was sent straight to jail after being sentenced.

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