Two Coalfire employees were arrested at the Dallas County,
Iowa court house earlier this week as they conducted what they called an
assessment on the building’s security.
The Des
Moines Register reported Gary Demercurio and Justin Wynn were arrested early
in the morning of September 11 as they were walking around on the court house’s
third floor allegedly carrying a variety of burglary tools. The
Perry News quoted a police report that upon arrest the men claimed “they
were contracted to break into the building for Iowa courts to check the
security of the building.”
Coalfire confirmed that the two are company employees.
The Iowa Judicial Branch confirmed in a press release that Coalfire was hired to check for vulnerabilities in its electronic records, but the agreement “did not intend, or anticipate, those efforts to include the forced entry into a building,” The Perry News stated.
A Coalfire spokesperson told SC Media that: Coalfire is a
global cybersecurity firm that has conducted over 10,000 security assessments
since 2001. We have performed hundreds of assessments for similar government
agencies, and our employees work diligently to ensure our engagements are
conducted with utmost integrity and in alignment with the objectives of our
client. However, we cannot comment on this situation or any specific client
engagements due to the confidential nature of our work and various security and
privacy laws. Additionally, we cannot comment on this specific case as it is an
active legal matter.”
Wynn and Demercurio were charged with third degree burglary
and possession of burglary tools and are expected back in the same court house
on September 23 for a preliminary hearing.
Gloss