Pioch is listed on Wittenberg’s website as a computer science major in the class of 2014. An online website describes him as a programmer and entrepreneur and the vice president and lead program of Logic Surge Inc., “a company that was formed in early 2010 and has done a wide variety of work with hundreds of clients.”
His site also says he is founder and developer of Varsify LLC of Wooster, whose website says it provides online and computer services to schools. An online resume lists a Toledo, Ohio, address, for Pioch.
Pioch is represented by Springfield attorney Jim Heath, who said he does not comment on his pending cases.
The suit alleges that on April 15, a Wittenberg employee discovered that his university account had been improperly accessed and that a check by Wittenberg University Police and Security traced the IP address used for the access to Pioch’s computer.
The suit says later that day, Pioch’s IP address showed up again in a check following unauthorized access to a second Wittenberg employee’s account. In both cases, the suit says, “the information accessible … includes private, proprietary and confidential information, including employment records and trade secrets.”
“Based on information and belief,” the suit adds, “Pioch has accessed the accounts of other Wittenberg students and/or employees.”
The suit reports that Pioch was fired and Wittenberg police issued him a criminal trespass warning. The suit also says the university is required to protect the confidentiality of university accounts by of Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974.
Although it does not specify what Pioch is suspected of doing with the information he’s alleged to have misappropriated, the suit cites two sections of the confidentiality agreement it says Pioch was required to honor as a condition of his employment.
Those sections say he would not “make or permit unauthorized use of any information,” or “exhibit or divulge the contents of any record, data, or report to any person except in the conduct of (his) work.”
The suit says he also was aware that “the intentional disclosure by (him) to any unauthorized person could subject (him) to criminal and civil penalties imposed by law.”
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