Hacker spied on salaries of her colleagues

AN EMBITTERED office worker hacked into the IT system of a leading private hospital so she could find out her colleagues’ salaries.

Karen Enabofio, 43, illegally accessed the payroll through an open ‘back door’ on the network because she was so paranoid that her co-workers earned more than her.

Enabofio, from Tottington, near Bury, had been coping with ‘an extremely difficult home life situation’ at the time, Manchester magistrates’ court was told.

She was also said to be concerned about unfulfilled promises of a pay rise or a promotion.

The mother- of- one was a financial adminstrator at Cygnet Hospital in Bury when she hacked the system in 2015.

The hospital treats celebrities and VIPs for mental health problems.

Mitigating, Helen Longworth said: ‘The information was taken so she would ease her mind. However, her mind was not eased... she acted out of paranoia and obsession and the desire to control something in her traumatic life.’

The judge accepted she had not hacked the system for her own financial gain.

Enabofio admitted an offence under the Computer Misuse Act 1990 and was handed a 12-week suspended sentence, told to complete ten days of rehabilitation, and pay £200 in court costs.