Four members of British hacking group LulzSec have been sentenced to prison, receiving the longest ever sentences handed down by an UK court for hacking to date.
Ryan Cleary was jailed for 32 months for his role in providing the software necessary to carry out the attacks, while ringleader Ryan Ackroyd was sentenced to 30 months.
Jake Davis was sentenced to two years for publicising the group’s attacks, while 18-year-old Mustafa al-Bassam – who was 16 at the time of the attacks – was given a 20-month suspended sentence and community service.
The group was described by Judge Deborah Taylor as having “wreaked havoc and destruction” through what she said the group saw as “cyber games”, adding the group had worked hidden in “the safety of their own bedrooms whilst seeking maximum publicity”.
LulzSec carried out a number of cyber attacks on high-profile entities including Sony, Nintendo, the CIA, the FBI, as well as News International, the NHS, and the UK’s Serious Organised Crime Agency.
Millions of people were affected by the attacks which saw LulzSec steal private data including email addresses, passwords, medical data and credit card details.
Stolen data was posted on the group’s website, or placed on file-sharing websites.
The group also launched distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks to crash computers and servers remotely.
US authorities have also lodged charges against some of the LulzSec group, and as such some members may face extradition to stand trial in the US.
