Finnish Teen Convicted for 50,000 Computer Hacks

A Finnish 17-year-old previously linked to the Lizard Squad hacker group has been convicted of over 50,000 “aggravated computer break-ins.”

Julius “Zeekill” Kivimaki — who bills himself as an “untouchable hacker god,” on what appears to be his Twitter page — will face a light sentence, despite an extensive roster of hacks (50,700, to be precise) he’s said to have been a part of, according to the BBC.

Judge Wilhelm Normann of the District Court of Espoo gave Kivimaki a suspended sentence of two years in prison. As part of the sentence, he was ordered to turn over about $7,300 in property acquired through illegal means and speak out against cybercrime and is having his online activities monitored.

Kivimaki, who spent just a month in jail before the trial began, was convicted for exploiting vulnerabilities in Adobe software to gain access to over 50,000 servers. He used stolen credit card information to make 21 purchases (among them, champagne) and took 7GB of email data from MIT, after routing it through a Harvard University server.

He also engaged in “swatting,” the practice of calling in a fake emergency to draw a SWAT team to someone’s home as a prank, according to Daily Dot .

Judge Norrman said he took Kivimaki’s age into account, who had been age 15 and 16 when he committed the break-ins. The judge noted Kivimaki didn’t fully comprehend the damage he caused.

Brian Krebs, the cybersecurity expert who linked Kivimaki to previous hacks, called the decision “a win for internet trolls” on his website.

Kivimaki is also said to be part of Lizard Squad, the group behind last Christmas’ Playstation and Xbox network attacks. Those hacks knocked out the ability to play against others online just as people were unwrapping their new gaming consoles. However, Kivimaki wasn’t charged for those hacks.

Source: Mashable Tech Finnish teen convicted for 50,000 computer hacks

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