A 21-year-old British hacker who accessed a U.S. citizen's Facebook account has been sentenced to a year in prison. Gareth Crosskey, the U.K. resident has been sentenced to twelve months in jail for illegally accessing a Facebook account belonging to an unidentified individual in the U.S. The guy was accused of hacking into the American’s Facebook account on January 12, 2011.
After being contacted by the victim, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) started looking into the case last year. The FBI traced the source of the hack to the U.K., where the inquiry had to leave American hands. U.S. agents thus contacted Scotland Yard to take over and the Metropolitan Police Central e-crime Unit (PCeU) tracked down the suspect.
Crosskey was arrested in July 2011 last year from his home, where authorities also seized computers and storage devices. After being released on bail on February 29, 2012, he was charged with two offenses under the UK’s Computer Misuse Act 1990. He was convicted on Wednesday and now he will now serve a year in prison.
He pled guilty to both counts, using a computer to gain unauthorised access to a program/data as well as performing unauthorised acts with intent to impair operation to prevent the access to a computer. We not aware with the purpose of Crosskey’s breach, whether it was an act of malicious intent or to test his own capabilities.
“The PCeU are working to detect and bring before the courts those responsible for this type of offence. Today’s result should act as a deterrent to any individuals thinking of participating in this type of criminal activity,” a PCeU spokesperson said in a statement. “By taking swift action, PCeU officers were able to quickly detain Crosskey thereby preventing further disruption to the victim.
Image Source: [THE INQUISITR]
After being contacted by the victim, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) started looking into the case last year. The FBI traced the source of the hack to the U.K., where the inquiry had to leave American hands. U.S. agents thus contacted Scotland Yard to take over and the Metropolitan Police Central e-crime Unit (PCeU) tracked down the suspect.
Crosskey was arrested in July 2011 last year from his home, where authorities also seized computers and storage devices. After being released on bail on February 29, 2012, he was charged with two offenses under the UK’s Computer Misuse Act 1990. He was convicted on Wednesday and now he will now serve a year in prison.
He pled guilty to both counts, using a computer to gain unauthorised access to a program/data as well as performing unauthorised acts with intent to impair operation to prevent the access to a computer. We not aware with the purpose of Crosskey’s breach, whether it was an act of malicious intent or to test his own capabilities.
“The PCeU are working to detect and bring before the courts those responsible for this type of offence. Today’s result should act as a deterrent to any individuals thinking of participating in this type of criminal activity,” a PCeU spokesperson said in a statement. “By taking swift action, PCeU officers were able to quickly detain Crosskey thereby preventing further disruption to the victim.
Image Source: [THE INQUISITR]
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