Hacker 9 Years in Jail

[Asmo]

23-year-old Brian Salcedo appealed against his sentence which was 9 years old, which the judge reconfirmed.

A fried of Salcedo detected an insecure wireless network while wardriving. Returning with Salcedo they were able to enter the network and modify software in such way that the two could gain creditcard information of customers of Lowe's in Southfield, Michigan, USA. Salcedo was at that time in hist last month of probation of a 3 year period which he received for computer-criminality while being underage.

The two discovered that from the server gained access they were able to enter the main server of the company serving the whole country. Lowe however discovered the crack and warned the FBI. The FBI posted and noticed a car with antenna's and went in for the arrest.

At that time, the malicious software only gained 6 creditcard numbers, of which the two haven't seen a single one with their own eyes. Despite this, Brian Salcedo got convicted to 9 years of jail, the heaviest sentence ever against a cracker. The sentence is especially remarkable as other crackers who were responsible for far more damage got much lighter sentences.

The judge however did not based the sentence on what damage they had done, but what damage they could have done.

Salcedo appealed against this sentence, and now has lost. He can at the earliest be released in May 2011. His friend was sentenced to 26 months in jail.
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Asmo

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