Andy Greenberg reports: Thanks in part to America’s ill-defined hacking laws, prosecutors have enormous discretion to determine a hacker defendant’s fate. But in one young Texan’s case in particular, the Department of Justice stretched prosecutorial overreach to a new extreme: about 440 years too far. Last week, prosecutors in the Southern District of Texas reached…
Category: Hack
Sony Pictures hacked, entire computer system unusable – Sony denies hack (updated & corrected)
When reports emerged that Sony had been hacked, I didn’t post anything here, waiting for confirmation. Instead of confirmation, Sony denied all claims of hacks. Today, however, there seems to be some confirmation, however unofficial. TheNextWeb is reporting: According to the Reddit thread, an image appeared on all employee’s computers reading “Hacked by #GOP” and…
Hackers Vow to Attack More Websites after Ottawa.ca
The dancing banana is just the beginning, Aerith vows. Sam Dixon reports that a group of hackers has defaced the Ottawa City Hall’s web site, but more threateningly, has vowed to target eight other Canadian institutions, including the police and Supreme Court. On Saturday, the group warned that the defacement of Ottawa.ca was “just the…
Gundersen sentenced for his role in scheme to hack 14 financial networks and DoD payroll system
Associated Press reports an update to an indictment noted on this blog in May: A New York City man has been sentenced to about 3 1/2 years in prison for his role in an international cybercrime ring that hacked into the computers of more than a dozen financial institutions and the U.S. military’s payroll service….
FTC and Wyndham to Mediate Dispute Over FTC Data-Security Authority
Meena Harris writes: Earlier this week, U.S. District Court Judge Esther Salas directed the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and Wyndham Hotels and Resorts to seek mediation to resolve their landmark dispute over whether the FTC has the authority to regulate companies’ data-security practices. As we’ve previously reported, the FTC alleged that Wyndham violated Section 5…
Former BYU-Idaho student charged with grand theft and computer crimes
Caleb Despain reports: Jacob Mahonri Espinal, a former BYU-Idaho student, was formally charged with two counts of computer crimes, felonies and grand theft, a felony. […] According to the Rexburg Police Department report, Espinal, a former document processor and graduation specialist at BYU-Idaho’s Student Records and Registrations Office, posted an associates degree in science he…