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UK Teen Who Hacked CIA Director Sentenced To 2 Years In Prison (gizmodo.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Gizmodo: A British teenager who gained notoriety for hacking a number of high profile United States government employees including former CIA director John Brennan and former director of intelligence James Clapper was sentenced Friday to two years in prison. Eighteen-year-old Kane Gamble pleaded guilty to 10 separate charges, including eight counts of "performing a function with intent to secure unauthorized access" and two counts of "unauthorized modification of computer material," the Guardian reported.

Gamble, otherwise known by his online alias Cracka, was 15 at the time that he started his hacking campaigns. The alleged leader of a hacking group known as Crackas With Attitude (CWA), Gamble made it a point to target members of the U.S. government. The young hacker's group managed to successfully gain access to ex-CIA director John Brennan's AOL email account. The group hacked a number of accounts belonging to former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, including his personal email, his wife's email, and his phone and internet provider account. The hackers allegedly made it so every call to Clapper's home phone would get forwarded to the Free Palestine Movement.

19 of 150 comments (clear)

  1. Well ain't that rich... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "performing a function with intent to secure unauthorized access"

    James Clapper... the chap who oversaw the largest "intent to secure unauthorized access" campaign in the history of computing? The one which targeted people all around the world for "full take" access? THAT James Clapper?

    When Clapper does 3 billion counts of whatever punishment this idiot kid will get, and goes away for the rest of his life, and the other people involved do similar time, then maybe we can think about what's appropriate for the idiot kid.

    Until then it's simply more "rules for me but not for thee".

    This is nothing less than a miscarriage of justice.

  2. He helped the Free Palestine Movement so.... by greenwow · · Score: 4, Insightful

    of course the government with Israel's influence wants to nail him for that.

    Either way, I was with him until he decided to modify information. Release info is one thing. Modifying it is another.

    1. Re: He helped the Free Palestine Movement so.... by stinkyjak · · Score: 2

      The free Palestine movement is bullshit. Take a map. Look at all the land mass for Muslim, Christian, ... then look at the tiny little spec allotted for Jews, after everyone else in that area tried to exterminate all Jews... well now. Itâ(TM)s pretty fucking insignificant. Let the Jews have the tiny PoS land they got. Fuck. Religion is stupid. Why canâ(TM)t we move past this BS anyway. Religion is ancient wat to control the poor and mindless. Kind of like modern media/social media is today. How many rulers can you be controlled by? Isnâ(TM)t the government enough. Let religion go. What good has it shown anyone?

  3. And Brennan wasn't at fault by Okian+Warrior · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The head of the CIA using an AOL account isn't as bad as it seems.

    Brennan had an account with AOL from the beginning of the internet, and only used it for personal, trivial things. He had a strong password, and didn't reuse passwords. All his work-related communications were done elsewhere.

    The "hack" was Gamble calling up AOL pretending to be Brennan, and having a sysadmin change the password.

    Brennan did nothing wrong, and could not have prevented this. In fact, he even did things right by not having any business-related communications on that account.

    I don't know the specifics of James Clappers' hack, but it was very likely the same. Assuming Clapper didn't have work-related stuff on his personal E-mail (and there's no reason to suspect that he did), this was nothing more than some high-level people being embarrassed by a kid hacker.

    1. Re:And Brennan wasn't at fault by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2

      If there is anything we have learned over the past few years it's that no account is trivial or unimportant. Too many services allow someone with control of an email address to reset passwords, log in to related sites and glean little bits of other information about you that can be used for further p0wnage.

      Even if it's just personal correspondence with friends and family, getting into that account reveals all their email addresses, information about their schedules, their writing styles and habits (great for spear phising attacks), all kinds of stuff.

      Aside from the embarrassment of having an @aol.com email address, they don't support a lot of basic security tech like 2 factor auth and apparently don't give their support staff any security training, so should not be used for any purpose.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  4. You're mad by Okian+Warrior · · Score: 5, Informative

    ...how many years Trump, sons and lawyers are going to collectively get lol?

    Um... none?

    You do realize that the Republicans sent a recommendation for prosecution to the AG for Hillary Clinton,
    James Comey, Andrew McCabe, and Loretta Lynch, right?

    And unlike nebulous charge of "collusion", the recommendation letter lays out the specific actions these people took and the specific federal laws that were broken.

    You probably didn't hear about that - the MSM was pretty quiet about it.

    And also note that Rep. Dana Rohrabacher claims to have physical proof that the Russians did not hack the DNC.

    You knew about that, right?

    Also, you do know that the original FISA court warrant was invalid on its face, so any evidence Mueller uncovers would be thrown out, right?

    Also, there's been no leaks of evidence from the Muller investigation, even though everything *else* seems to have been leaked. Even when those leaks are a violation of federal law, they still happen, and yet none of them have been about evidence.

    Also note that impeaching the president is an extremely high bar to clear. President Clinton was caught on camera in a baldfaced lie to congress and the people of the US ("I did not have sexual relations with that woman"), and was acquitted.

    Do you think saying “I hope you can let this go” rises to that level?

    You're mad.

    1. Re:You're mad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      If you want to be taken seriously, don't use breitbart as a source.

    2. Re:You're mad by PopeRatzo · · Score: 4, Informative

      You do realize that the Republicans sent a recommendation for prosecution [house.gov] to the AG for Hillary Clinton,
      James Comey, Andrew McCabe, and Loretta Lynch, right?

      And the Justice Department under Jeff Sessions put it right in the circular file where it belongs. There will be no charges.

      And also note that Rep. Dana Rohrabacher claims to have physical proof [breitbart.com] that the Russians did not hack the DNC.

      You mean the Dana Rohrabacher who the Kremlin has considered an intelligence source for the past two decades and so important that they gave him a code name? THAT Dana Rohrabacher?

      https://www.nytimes.com/2017/1...

      https://www.npr.org/2018/03/11...

      https://www.vanityfair.com/new...

      http://thehill.com/homenews/ca...

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    3. Re:You're mad by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 2

      ...how many years Trump, sons and lawyers are going to collectively get lol?

      Um... none?

      You do realize that the Republicans sent a recommendation for prosecution to the AG for Hillary Clinton,
      James Comey, Andrew McCabe, and Loretta Lynch, right?

      Yes, the Republican party has been working hard to discredit the investigation into the Trump presidential campaign but the truth shall prevail. Also, I have some bad news about the upcoming elections: Democrats are poised to take control of both the House and the Senate. Taking control of the House was previously seen as "impossible" now it's likely and taking the Senate is now within reach. Undoing gerrymandering is doing great things for democracy.

      And unlike nebulous charge of "collusion", the recommendation letter lays out the specific actions these people took and the specific federal laws that were broken.

      Collusion isn't a legal term but Conspiracy and Obstruction of Justice are. It's also possible many other criminal activities will be revealed since the raid on Michael Cohen.

      Also, you do know that the original FISA court warrant was invalid on its face, so any evidence Mueller uncovers would be thrown out, right?

      Actually, it's not and such facts have been reviewed closely. Also, bad news, the raid on Michael Cohen wasn't done by Mueller and thus is a separate investigation by the stated of New York.

      Also, there's been no leaks of evidence from the Muller investigation, even though everything *else* seems to have been leaked. Even when those leaks are a violation of federal law, they still happen, and yet none of them have been about evidence.

      That's not entirely true. It seems to have leaked that Michael Cohen was indeed in Prague which is at the crux of the Russia investigation. However, do note that information only leaks when there is a vested interest in information being leaked. The team of lawyers investigating have a vested interest in information not leaking.

      Also note that impeaching the president is an extremely high bar to clear. President Clinton was caught on camera in a baldfaced lie to congress and the people of the US ("I did not have sexual relations with that woman"), and was acquitted.

      Absolutely. Clinton was being impeached over perjuring himself over an affair. That's a far cry from conspiring with a foreign nation, obstructing justice or whatever other crimes are unveiled.

      You're mad.

      You're ill-informed and/or possibly deluded.

      --
      Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
  5. How long? by AndyKron · · Score: 2

    How long will the CIA director be in jail for allowing this to happen in the first place?

  6. Re:so he was a minor at the time... by namgge · · Score: 2

    If you dig down through to the source it seems this was a trial in a UK court.

  7. Re:so he was a minor at the time... by Sique · · Score: 5, Informative

    No, he was sentenced in the UK (at the Leicester crown court) and tried as a minor, sent to a juvenile prison.

    --
    .sig: Sique *sigh*
  8. UK prison? by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 2, Insightful

    He'll likely be out in less than a year -- their justice system tends to be more "just" than the US's. Good, the people he hacked couldn't be a nicer bunch of "people."

  9. Re: He helped the Free Palestine Movement so.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Muslims theocracies are bad. Christian theocracies are bad. Jewish theocracies are bad. The fervor to make sure there's enough Jewish people in Israel to be sure the Jewish maintain power makes it a theocracy to me. There's definitely a lot of countries in the region who wish all Jews killed. I understand that there's no reasonable way to placate the Muslims in the region, so even presuming Israel had actually worked to form relations with other countries in the region and assimilate the Palestinians, they'd have found some other excuse to want to kill the Jews.

    It seems obvious then that the Jews in Israel, if they want to not be under that constant death threat, need to leave somewhere else because those threats aren't going away. Either that or they need to conquer the whole region. Those are basically the only two real choices. If they do the latter, the only successful way in the long-term for stability would be to not have a government that's a de facto theocracy. The current situation is just a fucking mess, though.

  10. I would hire this little felon... by hyades1 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ...in a heartbeat.

    Hacking the CIA Director doesn't necessarily mean your hack-fu is incredible, but it probably indicates that your social skills are pretty good.

    That's what I want in an employee. I want somebody who can walk the walk well enough, of course. But my priority is that they make people who can help the company become more successful like and respect us. That's done through the people who speak for you. They don't need to be the brightest star in the sky. They need to be that bright person you would like to work with.

    --
    I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
  11. Re: He helped the Free Palestine Movement so.... by c6gunner · · Score: 4, Informative

    The fervor to make sure there's enough Jewish people in Israel to be sure the Jewish maintain power makes it a theocracy to me.

    It would if there were some religious test, or direct control of the government by the church (synagogue?). There isn't, though. "Jewish" is as much a cultural identifier as a religious one, and the government is essentially secular, with Muslim and Christian politicians serving in public office.

    As such, calling it a theocracy is just silly. Israelis aren't worried about trying to make sure that their country is governed by rabbis; they're worried about mass migration resulting in negative cultural changes. Any massive change in the demographics of a nation is going to have a significant impact on how that nation looks and functions.

  12. Re:so he was a minor at the time... by mjwx · · Score: 2

    No, he was sentenced in the UK (at the Leicester crown court) and tried as a minor, sent to a juvenile prison.

    And given a maximum of 2 years. I think he'll be out before then.

    --
    Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
  13. Re: He helped the Free Palestine Movement so.... by AmiMoJo · · Score: 3, Interesting

    "Jewish" is one of the least meaningful identifiers there is. It can mean an adherent of the religion, someone who is part of the culture but not necessarily religious, or it can be a race.

    Which just goes to show how silly Jewish conspiracy theories are.

    --
    const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
    SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  14. Revealed by DrYak · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Even if it's just personal correspondence with friends and family, getting into that account reveals all their email addresses, information about their schedules, their writing styles and habits (great for spear phising attacks), all kinds of stuff.

    In practice, given how seldom encryption is used in e-mail, that information isn't very well protected to begin with.

    Nearly nobody outside off /. ers uses GPG, and S/MIME is only used in some peculiar corporate settings.
    Thus nearly all e-mail are clear during the exchange.

    Also not every single e-mail server uses encryption.
    You might have setup your email client to use, e.g.: IMAPS and SMTP with STARTLS.
    But there's no guarantee that you correspondent will have done similar (or uses a webmail over HTTPS).
    And no guarantee either that the various machines along the chain between your SMTP server and your correspondent IMAP server will all use TLS/SSL secured links.

    So a lot of what you've mention can be gather simply by looking at un-encrypted traffic, no need to hack anyone's computer.

    Aside from the embarrassment of having an @aol.com email address, they don't support a lot of basic security tech like 2 factor auth and apparently don't give their support staff any security training, so should not be used for any purpose.

    That's the major problem in my opiion :
    - AOL is stuck in "early 90s" style of internet security.
    - it's not the kid who should get locked in. it's AOL who should be fined for awefully bad security practices.

    --
    "Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]