Three days worth of business – should be easy to calculate.

A precedent could be set for Internet hackers in the area if a Wausau man is convicted. This is the first time the Wausau Police Department is charging someone with a crime like this.

Twenty-nine-year-old Matthew Schuster is accused of transmitting a program causing damage to a protected computer and intentionally accessing a protected computer without authorization.

Schuster was a former employee at Central Wisconsin Wireless Internet Services in Wausau. In October of 2003 the company reported that they had lost all access to their computer systems, shutting their business down for at least three days.

The Wausau PD did all they could do within their expertise, then called in the FBI to investigate.

Jeff Troy, the Hacking Special Agent, says, “This is a really good opportunity for us to bring out local and federal law enforcement, that they are very proactive in working investigations along this line.”

Officials say they were able to trace the chaos back to Schuster. He was arrested and now faces 10 years in jail and a $250,000 fine. Since this investigation the Wausau Police Department has joined Infragard, a national security company that designs systems to prevent attacks like the one at CWWIS.