Vice president of CWR Electronics charged with hacking rival firm
A vice president of an Ocean County electronics company faces a computer theft charge for allegedly hacking into the computer system of a rival firm to steal some of its business.
Brian Swanke, 29, vice president of CWR Electronics, was charged Wednesday with theft against Win-Tron Electronics of Spring Lake Heights.
Ocean County Prosecutor Thomas Kelaher said Swanke, of Little Egg Harbor, hacked into Win-Tron's computer database and stole its list of customers, suppliers and other information, using it to boost his own company's sales by offering lower prices than his competitor.
Kelaher said the customer list of 2,000 names is worth $8 million and the case may be the largest instance of corporate espionage in the state.
