Database hacker jailed in US

A man from Massachusetts has been given a one-year prison sentence for his role in a series of hacking incidents that compromised personal data of more than 300,000 people. 20-year-old Justin A Perras received his jail term from a federal judge in West Palm Beach for his role in the hacking incident.

Perras was one of five men, the youngest of whom was 19 and the oldest 24, who managed to access a special law enforcement database known as Accurint on a computer based at Port Orange Police Department in Florida. The incident occurred in early 2005, when the hackers used their knowledge of computers and social engineering to gain entry to the database, which contains many people’s police records and other information. The main focus of attention for the group seemed to be celebrities – Perras and co. viewed address and SSN records of stars like Paris Hilton or Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Despite Perras’ claims that there was no malicious intent in his actions, which were fuelled by simple curiosity, the judge thought a prison sentence was the most suitable punishment, sending out a strong signal to other would-be hackers. Apart from the year in jail Perras will have three years on probation and will also have to give 100 hours of community service. His other co-defendents, who were sentenced in December, have already been ordered by the judge to pay up more than $100,000 in damages to LexisNexis, which owns the hacked database, and the Port Orange Police Department, whose computer was infected with a Trojan and broken into.