UK LulzSec hackers sentenced to varying prison terms

[Shawn Knight]

Four LulzSec hackers have been sentenced in the UK to varying prison stints. The men pleaded guilty to denial-of-service attacks on 20th Century Fox, the CIA, Nintendo, Sony and others and accepted their sentencing as part of a plea bargain.

Jake “Topiary” Davis will spend two years in a young offenders’ facility. Ryan “Viral" Cleary was sentenced to 32 months behind bars but will only serve half of that time. He also pleaded guilty to four other charges including possessing indecent photos of children and hacking Air Force computers. He will be sentenced on those charges at a later date. Both men confessed to their crimes last year.

Ryan “Kayla” Ackroyd was sentenced to 30 years in prison but like Cleary, he will only serve half of his sentence. Mustafa al-Bassam, who went by the online moniker “Tflow”, had a 20 month sentence suspended for two years due to the fact that he was only 16 when he committed the crimes. He must also perform 300 hours of community service and will be monitored for six months. Ackroyd and al-Bassam didn’t enter a guilty plea until last month.

Two other LulzSec members, including Jeremy Hammond, have also been arrested. Hammond allegedly helped hack intelligence company Stratfor although he has yet to be prosecuted.

Do you feel the sentences handed down by the judge are warranted? Too strict or too lenient? Feel free to voice your opinion in the comments below!

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/52611-uk-lulzsec-hackers-sentenced-to-varying-prison-terms.html

 

[MrBlkfx1]

Lol, one of the guys nicknames was "Kayla". Anyways, the judgements seem fair to me. That is, if "Jake ?Topiary? Davis " get's his due time for the child porn. Personally, I don't consider their offenses big deal crimes. However, any sort of child porn is a crime that shouldn't be taken lightly.

 

[Guest]

I think around a year should be the max for DDoS, hacking etc. To me I think the main reason why people do this is because they think they are anonymous and invincible on the Internet, and as soon as they realise this (go to prison) I think their view on the matter would have changed.

You don't need to send someone away for like 20 years for something like that.

 

[Guest]

I'm sure the 20 years was meant to read as '20 months'. Typos aplenty here.

These terms are a joke. Possession of indecent photos of children alone should be the death penalty IMO. Disgusting little rodents these turds are.

 

[Tygerstrike]

It really depends on how bad the hacks were TBH. DDoS for 5 mins is nothing. It had to be some serious DDoS. Besides I agree with GUEST on this. They thought they would never get caught. I feel these idjits need to serve some serious time. Not just for the hacks but for EVERYTHING else they have done as well.

 

[TomSEA]

30 months, not 30 years. I think the jail time is fine, but community service should be 3000 hours, not 300. Make them think long and hard about being stupid again.

 

[Guest]

I just think these guys should be given a second chance, if they're not going to do it again after a year or two in prison then that means the prison sentence succeeded in what it is trying to accomplish. The whole pedo thing I'm taking with a grain of salt too, we don't know the actual ages of the children, etc. Could be a 17-year old girl for all we know.

But anyway, It's not like these are the sort of people that will commit the same crimes twice, I mean they're not insane, they didn't murder anyone, etc. These are the people that should go to prison and stay in prison, the people that it is in their nature to commit crimes and just can't help themselves.

 

[Tygerstrike]

@ Above guest.
Im kinda sorry that you feel that ppl who in essence stepped on other ppls freedoms should get a slap on the wrist. You DIRECTLY may not have been effected by their hacks. But you can be damn sure that the companies that they attacked had to shell out some cash to fix it. As long as they denied service to those sites they were in effect barracading and blocking the use of said sites. If this had been a physical store/business then they would have had to face jail time. Just because it was online is why its still kinda murky. As for the Pedopics.....I dont care if the person was 17yrs old and 363 days in and the next day is their birthday. Its still wrong.

 

[Guest]

You think 2 years in prison is a slap on the wrist?

 

[PinothyJ]

Lol, one of the guys nicknames was "Kayla". Anyways, the judgements seem fair to me. That is, if "Jake ?Topiary? Davis " get's his due time for the child porn. Personally, I don't consider their offenses big deal crimes. However, any sort of child porn is a crime that shouldn't be taken lightly.

Who said it was child porn? Maybe it was just pictures of children who have been dressed up like sunflowers, pumpkins and bees?

Seem legit...

 

[hammer2085]

> Ryan ?Kayla? Ackroyd was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

What did he kill someone?

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

> Ryan ?Kayla? Ackroyd was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

What did he kill someone?

It was a typo... he was sentenced to 30 months.

I just think these guys should be given a second chance, if they're not going to do it again after a year or two in prison then that means the prison sentence succeeded in what it is trying to accomplish. The whole pedo thing I'm taking with a grain of salt too, we don't know the actual ages of the children, etc. Could be a 17-year old girl for all we know.

But anyway, It's not like these are the sort of people that will commit the same crimes twice, I mean they're not insane, they didn't murder anyone, etc. These are the people that should go to prison and stay in prison, the people that it is in their nature to commit crimes and just can't help themselves.

Yes, of course they'll be given a 2nd chance... well... maybe not the pedophile (they don't do well in prison, I've heard). But they still have to go to prison. For some people prison is a deterrent, and for the crazies, it's a place to put them so they don't hurt anyone else. They need to spend some time there to deter theirs, and others behavior.

And think about it... do you really think he's in trouble for having a picture of a person who just 'might' be 17? Porn of a 'child' means pre-puberty, and it makes him one sick freak. He hasn't been sentenced for that one yet... we'll have to watch for the story.

 

[Chazz]

30 months, not 30 years. I think the jail time is fine, but community service should be 3000 hours, not 300. Make them think long and hard about being stupid again.

Ty! I was about to go on a huge rant on how this isn't fair at all! One of those sentences were not like the others! Seems fair.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

'possessing indecent photos of children?'. Why that low life degenerate of a paedophile!!! If this is true, he should be executed!!!

 

[David Scott]

Lol, one of the guys nicknames was "Kayla". Anyways, the judgements seem fair to me. That is, if "Jake ?Topiary? Davis " get's his due time for the child porn. Personally, I don't consider their offenses big deal crimes. However, any sort of child porn is a crime that shouldn't be taken lightly.

It was Cleary not Davis with the child porn. but I agree that he should get his for that.

 

[davislane1]

"He also pleaded guilty to four other charges including possessing indecent photos of children"

Of all the crimes one can commit, I've always thought this one to be the most daft. The stories of what happens to such individuals in prison should be enough to deter people, yet there's always some story about some guy who thought his "anonymity" would protect him.

 

[Misagt]

Now that it seems it's 30 months and not thirty years, I personally think that is a stiff enough penalty. The indecent photos is sick, but we don't have all the info so I can't say much more on that. Hopefully these guys learn their lessons and put their programming skills to good use in the future.

 

[otester]

I'm sure the 20 years was meant to read as '20 months'. Typos aplenty here.

These terms are a joke. Possession of indecent photos of children alone should be the death penalty IMO. Disgusting little rodents these turds are.

While the possession of cp is ethically questionable, it's merely evidence of a crime (the person who took the images) so making possession illegal doesn't technically make sense since the police by holding it as evidence would also be committing an offence.

 

[gingerbill]

While the possession of cp is ethically questionable, it's merely evidence of a crime (the person who took the images) so making possession illegal doesn't technically make sense since the police by holding it as evidence would also be committing an offence.

Don't talk nonsense , possessing the images is a crime. I would have to know more (though I dont want to) what the images were before judging and asking for him to be excuted like some other poster put .

I think the sentences are probably fair.

 

[otester]

Don't talk nonsense , possessing the images is a crime.

I was questioning the law as it standards, not what is.

I you can't respond with constructive criticism then do not bother at all.

 

[Guest]

These guys have demonstrated that they have excellent programming skills, better than the "developers" who designed the sites that were hacked. Most hackers, like lockpickers and mountain climbers, do it for the challenge, not out of maliciousness. Making criminals out of them is ludicrous. They should be given gainful employment where their talents could be good to the optimum use.

 

[Guest]

Its all lies.. these guys dont even exist... its all governamental propaganda so that hackers get dissuaded from doing hacking stuff...

 

[Guest]

30 years! you get less for murder

 

[avoidz]

And at the end of their punishments, they'll all be recruited by different agencies. If they haven't already been approached.