Power Outages and Other Service Interruptions

Event Year: 1999 Reliability: Confirmed
Country: United States
Industry Type: Power and Utilities
Description:

A former computer systems administrator, Joseph D. Konopka, hacked into computers and caused power failures in WI.  Konopka, also known as ‘Dr. Chaos’,  pleaded guilty and was sentenced on 11 felony charges for crimes in WI.  He was responisble for 28 power outages and 20 other service interruptions in WI in 1999.  He was sentenced to 7 years in prison.  He was ordered to pay $436,000 in restitution and spend three years on supervised release after prison. 

Konopka’s crime spree also included hiding cyanide in an underground tunnel near a subway system in Chicago.  Was also sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Impact:

Twenty eight power outages and 20 other service interruptions causing about $800,000 in damage in 13 Wisconsin counties.