Arizona Teen Sentenced After Computer Tampering With 911 System

By Ashley Carter
Published: Tuesday, October 10, 2017 - 4:56pm

An Arizona teen has been sentenced to three years supervised probation following a cyberattack he carried out on emergency call systems in Maricopa County.

Meetkumar Desai posted a Twitter link to a webpage he made that when clicked on caused more than 300 “hang-up calls” to 911. The attack could have resulted in a shutdown of the 911 system.

“After his arrest he cooperated with investigators and he was very remorseful and claims he didn’t realize the impact of what he was doing. He said that he created the virus because he thought that it would be funny but that he had released it in error,” said Mia Garcia, a spokesperson for the attorney general’s office.

In August, Desai entered a guilty plea to computer tampering, which potentially saved him from jail time.