Worker pleads guilty to snooping on emails for stock deals

SEATTLE (AP) — A former information technology worker at Expedia Inc. pleaded guilty Monday to securities fraud after authorities said he used his access to the computers of top executives to rummage through their email, then made lucrative, illegal stock trades based on the inside information he discovered.

Ly pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud in U.S. District Court in Seattle and is expected to face a potential sentence of about two years.

Prosecutors said he was given the passwords and network credentials of company employees so he could remotely access their computers to address technology issues.

"The irony of our increasingly digital world is that the greatest threat to our networks is a human one," U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes said in a written statement.