FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 18, 2008
WWW.USDOJ.GOV/USAO/MA
CONTACT: CHRISTINA DiIORIO-STERLING
PHONE: (617)748-3356
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JUVENILE COMPUTER HACKER PLEADS GUILTY
Boston, MA... A male juvenile, who has been widely known in the hacker underground by his online moniker, “Dshocker,” pled guilty today in U.S. District Court to computer intrusion, interstate threats, and wire fraud, stemming from hacking, botnet and “swatting” activities. In accordance with federal law, the juvenile was not publicly named.
United States Attorney Michael J. Sullivan and Warren T. Bamford, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation - Boston Field Division, announced that a 16-year-old male juvenile, whose name is not being released to protect his privacy, of Massachusetts, pled guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Dennis F. Saylor, IV, to an Information charging him with delinquency related to computer intrusion, interstate threats and wire fraud.
At the hearing, the prosecutor told the Court that had the case proceeded to trial, the government would have proven that, from 2005-2008, the defendant (1) hacked into multiple corporate computer systems and took command of thousands of other computers in a “botnet” (a network of infected computers), directing them to perform cyberattacks on victim computer servers; (2) placed hoax emergency telephone calls to elicit armed police responses from SWAT (“special weapons and tactics”) police teams and others, as well as reported phony bomb threats, and (3) made fraudulent credit card purchases with stolen credit cards. His “swatting” activities created a serious risk of physical harm to innocent victims, and the multiple bomb threats caused extensive disruptions to important public services. Furthermore, the defendant’s hacking activities were disruptive to major companies’ computer systems, and they wreaked havoc on tens of thousands of computers that were compromised.
While Judge Saylor will impose sentence, the defendant has agreed to the imposition of an 11-month prison sentence, which would take place in a juvenile detention facility. Had he been tried as an adult, he would have faced a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, to be followed by 5 years of supervised release, a fine of up to $250,000 and restitution.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Adam J. Bookbinder of Sullivan’s Economic Crimes Unit and Trial Attorney Mona Sedky Spivack of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.
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