Thursday, August 03, 2006
Indian DOD Hacker Jailed
A 21-year old Indiana resident was sentenced with a 21-month verdict for his role in a hacking attack that compromised computers at the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD).
Raymond Paul Steigerwalt, member of the international hacking gang - Thr34t Krew (TK) launched the attack between October 2002 and March 2003. He was also ordered to pay restitution to the DOD of US$12,000, - according to a statement from U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Paul McNulty.
The gang were accused of creating a worm that infected internet-connected computers. The worm installed a trojan software program, allowing them to control the infected machines. Two computers at the DOD were infected and it was not clear what other damage was done, -McNulty's office said.
Two other men in North East England were held in 2003 for their part in creating the TK trojan that had infected approximately 18,000 computers around the world, causing an estimated '5.5 million (US$10.3 million) in damages, -according to the U.K.'s National Hi-Tech Crime Unit.
