It sounds like something straight out of Hollywood or a fund executive's nightmare. The
Wall Street Journal and the
Star Ledger both report that, after New York-based
Third Avenue Management laid off about 14 employees last week, one of them (a Russian programmer named
Viktor Savtyrev) threatened to hire hackers from Belarus to help him attack Third Avenue's network.
"My comrades for a small fee are able to help me out with bridging the firewall security and carry out data destruction and virus outbreak," Savtyrev allegedly emailed to the company.
Savytrev even allegedly threatened to tell the media after he'd hacked Third Avenue's network.
The former systems administrator's lawyer, Robert G. Stahl, described the actions as "an idle threat", but Third Avenue doesn't see it that way. Savtyrev appeared in federal court Monday before Magistrate Judge Patty Shwartz, charged with two counts of extortion. (If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to a decade in prison and face up to a half million dollar fine.) 
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