Dodgy agent sentenced for competitor hacking crime

Computer-hacking travel agent, Lee-Anne Marie Levett, has appeared in Hobart Supreme Court to learn her fate, after pleading guilty to 48 counts of unauthorised access of a computer.

Levett, owner of The Travel Studio with her husband in Howden, Tasmania, was charged after she hacked into a competitor agency’s computers in order to gain advantages in a tender process.

The tender was for the University of Tasmania back in 2011, and was the largest corporate travel contract in the state at the time, per The Mercury.

Her competitor in the tender was Andrew Jones Travel.

And now, Levett has been handed a suspended jail sentence, after the judge called her behaviour “arrogant and disdainful”, per The Mercury.

“Your case must be viewed in a serious light,” Acting Justice Porter said.

“I find a term of imprisonment is appropriate, but it will be wholly suspended as it will have an immediate punitive effect.”

Levett was served a nine month prison sentence, wholly suspended on the condition she commits no further crimes for two years, and completes 140 hours of community service.

Justice Porter said, per The Mercury, that it was unlikely Levett would ever be able to work in the travel industry again.

The Travel Studio and Andrew Jones Travel both used the Tramada software, and Levett managed to use a former employee’s long-in details – who had since moved on to Andrew Jones – to access their confidential documents and client information.

The court was told Levett’s agency gained “a significant, unlawful and unfair advantage in the tender process”, in addition to using confidential details to contact Andrew Jones clients.

The tender process ended up being jointly awarded to both The Travel Studio and Andrew Jones Travel, however Levett allegedly continued to illegally access details of her competitor in an attempt to win greater stakes in the travel market, per News Corp.