Out-Law / Your Daily Need-To-Know

A US hacker has been sentenced to three years imprisonment for breaking into the on-line share trading and credit card accounts of Ericsson employees and running up enormous debts.

According to US law enforcement agencies, Babatunde Osimane and his accomplice stole the identities of over 100 employees of Swedish company Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson and drained around $1.9 million from their stock and credit card accounts.

Osimane pleaded guilty to two counts of mail fraud and one count of wire fraud, and was ordered to pay $1.1 million in restitution. He admitted accessing accounts managed by ETrade Group using the social security numbers provided by ex-Ericsson employee Jeanette Franklin. Franklin was found guilty of 16 counts of mail and wire fraud and will face a maximum 80 year prison term when she is sentenced on 9th July.

Last week, a Colorado graduate student was indicted over an alleged attempt to extort ransom payments from e-commerce company Audible. According to reports, the student demanded a new Volvo estate in exchange for remaining silent about security flaws he discovered in a web site operated by Audible.

A new EU web site that addresses the issue of illegal and harmful content on the internet has itself been hacked. The message placed on the EU web site, Safernet.org, reads: “This is our world! We are god and we make the rulezzz Happy finding us! The Netherlands is tha place!”

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