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Hacker Tries To Land IT Job At Marriott Via Extortion

wiredmikey writes "A tough global economy has certainly created challenges for many people looking for jobs, but one Hungarian man took things to another level in an effort to gain employment at hotel giant Marriott International. On Wednesday, the 26-year-old man pleaded guilty to charges that he hacked into Marriott computer systems and threatened to reveal confidential company information if Marriott didn't offer him a job. Assuming his efforts were working, with the possibility of a new job with Marriott in his sights, the hacker arrived at Washington Dulles Airport on Jan. 17, 2011, using an airline ticket purchased by Marriott for him. He thought he would be attending a job interview with Marriott personnel. Unbeknown to him, he was actually being 'interviewed' by a Secret Service agent posing as a Marriott employee."

9 of 218 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Typical by igreaterthanu · · Score: 5, Informative

    He entered American soil, so American laws apply to him.

    --
    I dream of a nation where a man is not judged by his skin color but by an number assigned by a credit rating agency.
  2. Willing risk taker by gd2shoe · · Score: 4, Informative

    He went to a country where he knew he had broken the law. He had to know that arrest and prosecution was one of the possible outcomes.

    He gambled. He lost.

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    I won't join Slashcott. OTOH, If Beta goes live, I just won't be back until it's fixed. Sorry Dice.
  3. Re:Secret Service by Sycraft-fu · · Score: 5, Informative

    The USSS is also the anti-fraud agency, including computer and phone fraud, probably because it heavily related to financial crimes. In 2009 there was an expansion of that as well.

    So when it comes to fraud/extortion type things, particularly as they relate to computers, the USSS is probably the agency that handles it.

  4. Re:2nd time an FBI article go "Varnish cache serve by the+linux+geek · · Score: 4, Informative

    It's been happening all over Slashdot, not just on FBI-related articles. The Slashdot administrators need a more reliable server. You need a qualified mental health professional.

  5. There are no labour camps in Hungary by caius112 · · Score: 5, Informative

    In Hungary, they send their unemployed to hard labor camps to get any government assist.

    I believe the proposed legislation says that after six months of being on unemployment benefit, you must do 4 hours of public service a day to continue to receive said benefit. Hungary is a member of the European Union, there are no forced labour camps or any such Stalinist nonsense (which doesn't mean there isn't massive corruption etc., but that's another issue). Next time please inform yourself before posting idiotic shit.

  6. Re:Typical by lxs · · Score: 4, Informative

    This isn't entrapment.
    He wasn't lured into comitting the crime. He was lured into getting himself arrested.

  7. Re:Typical by gnasher719 · · Score: 5, Informative

    So while having the offended party (Marriott in this case) pay for his ticket to fly over might be considered entrapment in a number of jurisdictions, it's perfectly legal in the US.

    Entrapment in the US law sense happens when someone persuades you to commit a crime that otherwise you wouldn't have committed. US authorities are not allowed to do that, and it is a decent defense if you can show that some US authoritiy did this. It's not a defense if a private company does it.

    But that didn't happen here. The crime was already in progress (the hacking had happened, and the extortion was in progress), so even if the US police had concocted this plan, it would have been absolutely fair game to find and catch a criminal.

  8. Re:Secret Service by imsabbel · · Score: 3, Informative

    The SS was the anti-counterfeit department of the treasury long before "protecting the president" became its job.

    --
    HI O WISE PRINCE. WHT TOOK U SO DAM LONG?
  9. Re:Your assessment is quite incorrect, actually by Hognoxious · · Score: 3, Informative

    accessing a computer located in the US is a crime in the US, regardless of where your tcp connection originates?

    That might be true in theory, but in practice it depends on the opinions of the country where the hacker is located.

    If they tell you to shove your extradition request up your ass sideways, it's irrelevant. A pity more countries don't, given the near impossibility of making US citizens face justice once they've fled back home.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."