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Uploaded: Tuesday, January 29, 2013, 9:05 AM
Stanford grad pleads no contest in stalking case
Created fake web pages, posed as victim online to harass ex-boyfriend
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by Sandy Brundage
Almanac Staff
People say it's really hard to completely delete information from a computer. Erin Umberg, 29, is finding that the district attorney's office believes in that truism -- she pleaded no contest on Friday, Jan. 25, for computer misuse dating back to 2007.
Deputy District Attorney Al Serrato said Ms. Umberg installed spyware on an ex-boyfriend's computer while she was a student at Stanford University, using the program to capture passwords for her ex and several friends, also students at the university.
Passwords in hand, she then allegedly created fake web pages and email accounts, and set about trying to wreck lives, according to prosecutors. "It went on for months," Mr. Serrato said.
At one point, posing as one victim, Ms. Umberg allegedly emailed "derogatory and obscene information" to medical residency programs, causing denial of admission.
Ms. Umberg has since graduated from Stanford with a master's degree. She pleaded no contest in San Mateo County Superior Court to one felony and two misdemeanors related to the misuse of computer data, in exchange for not serving more than six months in jail. The court has scheduled sentencing for March 22.
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Posted by stanfordfac, a resident of the Atherton: West Atherton neighborhood, on Jan 29, 2013 at 2:08 pm As a victim of a nearly identical crime several years ago, i am happy to see this case prosecuted. These malicious actions can destroy reputations and be incredibly stressful for the victims. In my case I had no idea who was doing this until we were able to identify the IP address of the company it was sent from through which i was able to identify the individual. It's annoying to see her attorney basically claim that the perpetrator was the victim, what BS. If that is the case, plead not guilty and let it go to trial.
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Posted by fedup, a resident of another community, on Jan 30, 2013 at 1:18 am Is Stanford going to revoke her degree? I feel it would be the right thing to do, after all, do they want to put their 'seal of approval' saying that this person is a capable, trustworthy individual when she is obviously more interested in personal vendettas?
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Posted by Degrees of guilt, a resident of the Atherton: other neighborhood, on Jan 30, 2013 at 8:38 am The last I heard, a Stanford degree (or any college degree) is just an indication of completion of required academic work. This woman apparently did complete her academic work. The criminal record associated with this transgression will unfortunately follow her around in her professional life. Revoking the degree would be too extreme. Maybe there is some nuance here I'm not catching, like she committed these acts on Stanford computers on campus.
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Posted by resident, a resident of the Menlo Park: Downtown neighborhood, on Jan 30, 2013 at 10:13 am The victim was a Stanford student, so presumably she was hacking his Stanford-owned accounts.
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Posted by resident, a resident of the Menlo Park: Downtown neighborhood, on Jan 30, 2013 at 10:19 am This has not been a good month for current and former Stanford students. In addition to this woman, another Stanford woman and her parents were busted for being a part of a burglary ring at the Stanford Shopping Center. And the Kwame Harris (Stanford class of 2003) incident in Menlo Park was just made public.
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