Tag Archive for: Prison

Administrator of Darkode Hacking Forum Sentenced to Prison

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The US Justice Department announced on Wednesday that a man who admitted being an administrator of a now-defunct cybercrime forum named Darkode has been sentenced to prison.

Thomas Kennedy McCormick, aka ‘Fubar’, a 30-year-old from Cambridge, Massachusetts, has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for his role in running Darkode. The sentence also includes three years of supervised release.

McCormick, who joined the site as a member in 2009, ended up being one of multiple administrators. Authorities said he was one the last admins of Darkode, before the cybercrime forum was shut down by law enforcement in 2015. The law enforcement operation resulted in 70 people being arrested, searched, or charged. 

Investigators said Fubar was involved in the distribution of malware, hacking websites, as well as the theft and sale of personally identifiable information, payment cards, and bank account credentials. 

When they searched his residence, law enforcement found the stolen credit card information of nearly 30,000 people in his possession. 

The Justice Department said in 2022 that McCormick had agreed to assist law enforcement in the prosecution of other Darkode members.  

McCormick’s 18-month prison sentence is for RICO conspiracy (12 months) and aggravated identity theft (6 months) charges, to which the man pleaded guilty. He admitted that his involvement in the operation caused financial losses totaling nearly $680,000. 

There have been a few unsuccessful attempts to resurrect Darkode after the takedown. 

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Related: Former Ubiquiti Employee Who Posed as Hacker Sentenced to Prison

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Can’t catch a (prison) break – POLITICO

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Voiced by artificial intelligence.

Good Sunday afternoon: This is John Johnston, stepping in for Annabelle Dickson who is on the lam from Sunday Crunch. Normal service will resume next week.

THINGS TO KNOW

RESET ON REMAND: Expectations of a post-recess reset for Rishi Sunak have been firmly dashed after his first week back was dominated by crumbling school chaos, the resignation of another scandal-hit Conservative MP, and topped off with a terror suspect ordering Uber yeets from Wandsworth prison …

Sigh of relief: Daniel Khalife was captured after 75 hours on the run after a plain-clothes police officer pulled him off a bicycle on a canal towpath in northwest London on Saturday.

Chalk-ed it up: But the questions over how the former soldier managed to slip away are only beginning, with Justice Secretary Alex Chalk taking to the Sunday shows to face a grilling over how on earth this could have happened.

**A message from Google: Google’s Be Internet Legends programme helps children learn five key skills needed to be safer online through interactive materials that make learning fun. Teachers and students are invited to join a Back to School assembly, in partnership with Parent Zone, on 14th September. Find out more.**

Obviously: The usual crisis protocol has been initiated in Whitehall — namely launching a deluge of investigations to try and find someone to blame that isn’t the government.

Lockdown: Chalk said he has ordered preliminary probes to be on his desk by close of play today, including details about Wandsworth’s security processes and whether Khalife should have been held in a Category A prison given his charges.

Vote of confidence: Speaking to Sky’s Trevor Phillips, Chalk said the correct prison protocols were in place at the time of the escape, adding that he had “full confidence” in the Wandsworth governor to conduct an investigation into whether they were actually being followed.

But but but: He revealed that out of an “abundance of caution” around 40 prisoners on remand at the facility had already been moved…

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Brazilian Court sentences hacker to 20 years in prison — MercoPress

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Brazilian Court sentences hacker to 20 years in prison

Tuesday, August 22nd 2023 – 10:50 UTC

Delgatti claimed he hacked mobile phones to “fight injustices” but the judge did not buy it
Delgatti claimed he hacked mobile phones to “fight injustices” but the judge did not buy it

Notorious hacker Walter Delgatti was sentenced Monday to 20 years in jail for his involvement in the 2019 Operation Spoofing case, Agência Brasil reported. The decision can be appealed.

Judge Ricardo Leite, of the 10th Federal Court in Brasilia, issued his ruling after Delgatti was arrested in 2019 on suspicion of hacking into Telegram accounts of authorities, including members of the Lava Jato task force, such as former prosecutor Deltan Dallagnol.

Read also: Bolsonaro vows to sue hacker for slander

In addition to Delgatti, six other defendants were also sentenced for the intrusions. In addition to the former Car Wash prosecutors, former Justice Minister Sergio Moro, former Economy Minister Paulo Guedes, and advisors to the National Council of Public Prosecutors (CNMP) also had messages illegally accessed.

In his decision, the judge said that Delgatti intended to sell the hacked Lava Jato conversations to the press and refuted defense claims that the conversations had been violated to “fight injustices” allegedly committed during the operation.

“It was only after realizing the resistance of journalists to paying for access to this material that there was an initial cooling of Walter’s eagerness to obtain cash for exchanging the material,” wrote the judge.

In addition to participating in the hacking of authorities, the sentence states that Walter Delgatti obtained bank details from various victims and sold the information obtained on specialized crime chats.

“To better understand Walter’s fraud techniques, a conversation was recorded in which Walter introduces himself as being responsible for the technical and security area of a financial institution and instructs a bank client to update his computer to install a malicious program,” the judge noted.

Earlier this month, Delgatti was arrested by the Federal Police (PF) in…

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Infamous British Hacker ‘PlugwalkJoe’ Receives Five-Year US Prison Sentence for Cryptocurrency Theft

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In a groundbreaking ruling, British hacker Joseph O’Connor, known as PlugwalkJoe in the online world, has been handed a five-year prison sentence in the United States.

Notorious British Hacker Sentenced to Five Years in US Prison for Cryptocurrency Theft

British hacker Joseph O’Connor, who is famously recognized as PlugwalkJoe in the digital realm, has received a significant five-year prison sentence in the United States. Following his arrest in Spain in July 2021, O’Connor was subsequently extradited to the US on April 26, 2023. His guilty plea in May encompassed various charges related to computer intrusions, wire fraud, and money laundering conspiracies.

The announcement of O’Connor’s sentencing was disclosed by the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York on June 23.

According to the statement, O’Connor has not been named, but it confirms that he gained unauthorized access to the accounts and computing systems of the exchange where the targeted executive worked by employing a SIM-swapping technique.

The court’s ruling includes not only the prison term but also a three-year period of supervised release. Additionally, O’Connor has been ordered to forfeit the exact amount he pilfered, which totals $794,012.64.

Furthermore, O’Connor’s criminal activities extend beyond the aforementioned SIM swap attack. He and his accomplices orchestrated the high-profile Twitter hack in July 2020, which netted them approximately $120,000 in stolen cryptocurrency.

The Twitter hack involved the deployment of social engineering techniques and SIM-swapping attacks, enabling O’Connor and his associates to seize control of around 130 prominent Twitter accounts.

Other Illegal Activities

In addition to their activities on Twitter, the group of cybercriminals also gained unauthorized access to two prominent accounts on TikTok and Snapchat. Exploiting their scheme, they deceived unsuspecting Twitter users and profited by selling access to compromised accounts.

One notable incident involved O’Connor attempting to blackmail a Snapchat victim by threatening to release private messages…

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