Mittesh Das, a civilian contractor, could face 10 years in prison and a quarter-million dollar fine on charges he damaged the Regional Level Application Software, a critical Army Reserve computer network. He was indicted April 5, arrested by Army Criminal Investigation Command officers and members of the Johns Creek (Ga.) Police Department, and made his first U.S. District Court appearance Wednesday in Georgia, according to a Justice Department news release.
The alleged "transmission of a program, information, code, and command" into the system took place around Nov. 21-23, 2014, according to Das' indictment. While the RLAS processes soldier pay, transfers and promotions, no personal information was exposed during the alleged breach, DOJ spokesman Don Connelly said Thursday via email.
Das was a subcontractor at the time, Connelly said. He did not provide the name of Das' employer. Attempts to reach Das, of Atlanta, were not successful.
CID's investigation into the case is ongoing, according to the release. Connelly said the system "has undergone extensive review in order to ensure [it] … may continue to be safely used."
With RLAS down, information for some soldiers attending their monthly drill had to be manually inputted into the Defense Finance and Accounting System, a Reserve spokesman said at the time. The resulting delays hit all Reserve soldiers except those who were mobilized.
Kevin Lilley is the features editor of Military Times.
