Adam Mudd, the person behind multiple security breaches and hacks against companies such Sony, Microsoft, Runescape, and more, has just been sentenced to two years in jail by a UK judge. Mudd, age 20, was responsible for creating "Titanium Stresser", a program that was able to send denial of service attacks to countless vulnerable websites. 181 IP addresses were affected from 594 attacks by Mudd, who then sold the program for £386k, allowing for hackers to wreak havoc upon more than 660k IP addresses. He then carried out attacks on Sony and Microsoft servers, taking online capabilities down for hours at a time. Mudd's defense claimed that there was no ill intent, and Mudd only did the previously stated crimes for attention. Judge Micheal Topolski, however, ruled that Mudd has clear knowledge of the repercussions of his dealings, stating ""I'm entirely satisfied that you knew full well and understood completely this was not a game for fun. I have a duty to the public who are worried about this, threatened by this, damaged by this all the time," and sentenced him to 2 years in a correctional facility.

Source

 

[FAST6191]

The definitions of hacking are many and varied, you may use another to someone else. I have not looked into what the tool created was like (and being UK courts I am wary of reading too much into charges there -- downloading something, making no mods and pressing compile in codeblocks could probably get you labelled as a creator).

Still if they managed to attempt to bypass mitigations (even something as banal as finding the right port would speak to an underlying understanding of the concepts involved) and attempt to generate real looking traffic that would count as "real" hacking in my book, and probably in that of anybody that does not want to do the hacking vs cracking thing again. Then again I would probably opt for a more results focused definition. Did they seek to take out a web service? Said web service even theoretically from a company that has a clue. Did they manage it? Congrats I guess if that is what you aimed for. You may be a skiddy that downloaded a tool but results.

I would certainly agree that weaving your way through layers of security in an embedded device with soldering iron in one hand, scope probe in another and alternately staring at disassembled code from a disassembler you likely customised yourself is leagues ahead of anything showcased by this guy but still plenty of room under the hacker banner.

 

[calagan]

Mudd developped the tools and offered the DDOSsing service, making quite a lot of money in the process, but he did not pick the targets nor did he launch the attacks.

His intent is no more ill than the intent of any arms dealer selling guns.

I'm also surprised no one mention he's suffering from autism.

 

[FAST6191]

What would autism have to do with anything? At some level and with certain points on the spectrum it could play into something but it seems the judge, who presumably would have had a report on the matter, reckoned the guy understood the consequences of his actions. Unless you meant you want us to point and laugh at the autistic dude.

Also while would I agree many rules politicos cook up with regards to "hacking tools" are so fundamentally broken this would appear to be a fully weaponised DDOS system, seemingly sold as such. My copy of nmap can be used to both find the mistakes after I decide to set my firewall rules after a night on the absinthe, can also be used to start crawling my way into a server that I should not. I did not see anything say he tried to ensure that the clients or anything were on the up and up. With that in mind the arms dealer analogy breaks down for me.

 

[DarkWork0]

Idk about the uk but the US usually sends nonviolent non terrorist hackers to jails were you are basically locked in a baddly finished basement bed room with bars. Unlike regular jail you are treated much better. There are several documentaries on this

So should be like home in his parents basement then.

 

[_Mary_]

386k? Son of a bitch.
If he just gets 2 years for this, that's a damn good deal. Got to fuck with big companies and make swag.
That's a pretty impressive resume for a 20 year old though.

He'll make lots and lots of bitcoins lolll

 

[RedBlueGreen]

What would autism have to do with anything? At some level and with certain points on the spectrum it could play into something but it seems the judge, who presumably would have had a report on the matter, reckoned the guy understood the consequences of his actions. Unless you meant you want us to point and laugh at the autistic dude.

Also while would I agree many rules politicos cook up with regards to "hacking tools" are so fundamentally broken this would appear to be a fully weaponised DDOS system, seemingly sold as such. My copy of nmap can be used to both find the mistakes after I decide to set my firewall rules after a night on the absinthe, can also be used to start crawling my way into a server that I should not. I did not see anything say he tried to ensure that the clients or anything were on the up and up. With that in mind the arms dealer analogy breaks down for me.

You have to feel bad for him because he has autism /s

Mudd developped the tools and offered the DDOSsing service, making quite a lot of money in the process, but he did not pick the targets nor did he launch the attacks.

His intent is no more ill than the intent of any arms dealer selling guns.

This is a stupid analogy, which is frankly untrue. He designed malware which was intended to be used for DDOSing. This can already be called ill intend because the aim of the software is clearly malicious. If an arms dealer knowingly sells a gun to somebody dangerous are they not to blame at all? I guarantee nobody will say that if the gun is sold and then used in a school shooting. You're comparing apples to bowling balls here.

 

[smf]

Mudd developped the tools and offered the DDOSsing service, making quite a lot of money in the process, but he did not pick the targets nor did he launch the attacks.

I believe he would have chosen at least one of the targets, for testing/publicity. In court they said they have evidence that 594 of the attacks were made by him.

His intent is no more ill than the intent of any arms dealer selling guns.

An unlicensed arms dealer would get more than 2 years in prison.

He'll make lots and lots of bitcoins lolll

They are confiscating all of the money that he made. If there is any evidence that he's not returned it all then they can add up to 14 years to his sentence. They know about bitcoin & they'll keep an eye on him after he is released.

 

[weatMod]

Wait is this the guy who ruined 2014 christmas with the bad internet problem? My dad got xbox one during that time and couldn't download his assassians creed games.

>My dad got xbox one during that time and couldn't download his assassians creed games.

1st world problems

 

[Mnecraft368]

Wait is this the guy who ruined 2014 christmas with the bad internet problem? My dad got xbox one during that time and couldn't download his assassians creed games.

i got a ps4, couldnt make an account

 

[ScarletDreamz]

assassians