Larned man convicted of attacks on internet provider’s computers

A 35-year-old man has been convicted of making a Kansas internet provider’s computers inaccessible to the public because he was upset his classified ad was removed.

Michael Golightley, of Larned, was convicted Thursday on seven counts of damaging a protected computer and one count of threatening to damage a computer connected to the internet.

The U.S. Attorney of Kansas said in a news release that Golightley arranged six denial of service attacks on Nex-Tech’s computers in March 2017.  The attacks made Nex-Tech’s computers inaccessible to the public.

Prosecutors say Golightley was angry that Nex-Tech removed his ad for a PlayStation 3 that had been modified to bypass a system security check.  He placed the ad a second time and threatened to retaliate if it was removed again.

Sentencing is set for July 1st.

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