AssociatedPressHACKENSACK, N.J. (AP) — A sales executive who used personal information to guess passwords, hack into e-mail accounts and listen in on conference calls at his friends' companies was sentenced to probation Friday — a punishment the victims said was too lenient.
David Goldenberg, 47, of Oceanside, N.Y., was fined $1,000 and sentenced to three years probation Friday for a single count of felony wiretapping. He initially faced five felony charges but was spared jail time under a plea agreement with New Jersey prosecutors.
The victims estimate he cost them more than $10 million in lost business and security-improvement expenses.
Marla Suttenberg, owner of Woodcliff Lake-based Sapphire Marketing, described the sentence as a slap on the wrist that wouldn't deter others. She said both companies continue to suffer.
"Our business has been changed forever," Suttenberg said. "Customers that used to trust us with information are now afraid to tell us anything for fear of being compromised."
Commentary: The government needs to work more closely with industry to ensure workplace theft of sensitive information is treated as the serious threat to the wealth/security of our nation that it truly presents, and the threat it poses to the perpetuation of a technologically superior U.S. private industry infrastructure." This is definitely one area where the govt. and industry need to be working together to stop this and make sure that the wealth of the nation (its trade secret, proprietary, etc.) is not squandered to thieves.
While Goldenberg apologized for his actions, and his defense attorney maintains that "We maintain that there was no financial loss and that no financial loss will be established in any future civil litigation,"
The victimized business estimates he cost them more than $10 million in lost business and security-improvement expenses.
"Our business has been changed forever," Suttenberg said. "Customers that used to trust us with information are now afraid to tell us anything for fear of being compromised."
Now, I ask YOU Dear reader, if you owned this business would you feel that justice was served?
Let me hear from you...
J.D. LeaSure
CEO
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