LandMark White sabotage suspect refused bail

Sydney IT contractor Stephen Grant has been charged by NSW Police for allegedly accessing LandMark White’s database without authorisation while employed as an IT contractor. 

The 49-year-old man will face Sydney’s Central Local Court this morning charged with 15 offences after being arrested on Wednesday in relation to the ASX-listed company’s data breaches.

The arrest followed a three month investigation into the unauthorised database access, which exposed more than 170,000 data records, including personal information and valuation records, to the dark web.

LandMark White had repeatedly claimed the breaches, which resulted in their share price toppling, were an inside job aimed at sabotaging the company.

Multiple raids were carried out by detectives from the cybercrime squad and the public order and riot squad on Grant’s Rozelle home and an Ultimo data centre shortly after the arrest, which seized servers, computers, laptops and storage devices.

Late on Thursday, NSW Police said Grant, who had been taken to Surry Hills Police Station for questioning, had been charged and refused bail.

The charges include five counts of unauthorised modification of data with intent to cause impairment and seven counts of dealing with identity information to commit an indictable offence.

Grant has also been charged with two counts of impairing electronic communications to/from computer and possession of a prohibited drug.

Cybercrime squad commander, detective acting superintendent Gordon Arbinja, said the complex investigation, which is continuing, had involved working closely with LandMark White.

“Cybercrime presents a unique challenge for law enforcement, and the only way we will be able to tackle the issues is collaboration with our industry partners and government,” he said.

“This investigation is an excellent example of the company working closely with police on a matter, which may have otherwise gone unreported or unsolved.”