Hacker sentenced to three years for breaching police sites
A man said to be affiliated with the hacking collective Anonymous gets prison time for breaking into police and municipal Web sites in Utah, New York, Missouri, and California.
After pleading guilty to computer fraud for hacking into several police Web sites, John Anthony Borell III was sentenced to three years in federal prison on Thursday, according to the Associated Press.
Borell, 22, is from Ohio but was accused of breaching the Web sites of police agencies in Utah, New York, and California, and a municipal Web site in Missouri, in early 2012. According to court documents, the intrusions caused thousands of dollars in damage and forced the Utah police site to be down for nearly three months.
Apparently, after the attack, Borell made several comments on Twitter and other Web sites, which helped law enforcement officials in their investigation.
Borell is said to be a member of the loose-knit hacking collective Anonymous, which has taken credit for numerous online attacks including on the US Department of Justice, Lockheed Martin, Bank of America, and more. Reportedly, the attacks on Utah's police Web sites were done in protest of proposed US anti-piracy legislation.
In addition to his prison sentence, Borell has also agreed to pay $227,000 in damages, according to the Associated Press.