NEW YORK - A Time Warner Cable (“TWC”) technician, who illegally installed a spyware program on three of his employers’ computers to enable him to gain unauthorized access to TWC’s customer database and billing system, was convicted on all eight counts against him.  The jury convicted Louis Puesan, 45, of multiple counts, including computer trespass, computer tampering in the third degree, unlawful duplication of computer related material, and unlawful possession of computer related material.

As proven at trial, Puesan, a TWC technician for more than 20 years, committed several computer crimes against his employer in February 2008, by installing unauthorized spyware on three of TWC’s network computers at its Northern Manhattan office at 401 West 219th Street.

The spyware chosen by Puesan was a “keylogger” program, designed to capture the keystrokes of any employee who sat down to use the computers and store them in a password-protected log, viewable only by Puesan.  According to testimony by a witness at the trial, the defendant’s stated purpose was to capture the passwords used by active employees with authorized access to TWC’s customer database and billing system.

Eyewitness testimony regarding the defendant’s criminal activities was corroborated by computer forensic examinations conducted by the Computer Crimes Squad of the New York City Police Deparment and the Cybercrime and Identity Theft Bureau of the District Attorney’s Office.  The defendant is expected to be sentenced on September 13, and faces up to four years in prison on the most serious of the felony charges.

“Spyware programs are insidious because they often go undetected,” said District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. “This particular program copies every keystroke a user types on a keyboard, allowing criminals to steal passwords and other secret information. I would like to thank Time Warner Cable for discovering the defendant’s scheme so quickly and the jury for its attention to its duty.”