Northern District of California

OAKLAND - A federal grand jury in Oakland indicted Vamsikrishna Naganathanahalli, charging him with a felony related to the alleged improper accessing and damaging of a protected computer, announced United States Attorney Ismael J. Ramsey and Federal Bureau of Investigation, Special Agent in Charge Robert K. Tripp.

According to the indictment filed May 11, 2023, and unsealed earlier today, Naganathanahalli, 47, of Dublin, Calif., accessed a computer system belonging to his former employer, Vituity, after his company login privileges had been revoked. The indictment alleges Naganathanahalli used his access to the computer system to replace real data with masked data causing damage to an important Vituity database.

Vituity comprises a group of related companies based in Emeryville, Calif., including physician partnerships and other entities. According to the indictment, Vituity maintained a computer database that was central to its business and was connected to systems responsible for hiring and payroll, among other functions. The indictment alleges that in late May of 2022, Naganathanahalli was informed that his employment with Vituity would be terminated in mid-June. The indictment alleges that after he was informed his employment would be terminated, but before his last day on the job, he changed a password to another employee's account so he would be able to gain access to a Vituity computer system after access to Vituity's computers using his own password was revoked. Further, the indictment alleges that in September 2022, Naganathanahalli used the changed password to access a Vituity computer system remotely, change yet another employee's password, and then use that employee's account to overwrite the company's personnel data. In doing so, Naganathanahalli uploaded generic, "masked" data to overwrite the real data for thousands of current and former employees.

Defendant was arrested on May 25, 2023, and made his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kandis A Westmore in federal court in Oakland this morning. Magistrate Judge Westmore ordered Naganathanahalli released on a $100,000 bond. Naganathanahalli's next scheduled appearance is at 2 p.m. on June 15, 2023, for before the Honorable Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, U.S. District Judge for a review of case status.

An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum sentence of 10 years of imprisonment, and a fine of $250,000, plus restitution if appropriate for each violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1030(a)(5)(A), (c)(4)(A)(i)(I). However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.

This case is being prosecuted by the Special Prosecutions Section of the United States Attorney's Office. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.