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August 02, 2005
And They Say Symantec Doesn't Write Its Own Viruses
Security Firm Founder Hacks His Way To Probation
The co-founder of a San Diego computer firm was sentenced to 60 days in a work-release program for hacking into government and private computers as part of a scheme for drumming up business, it was reported Tuesday.
U.S. District Judge John S. Rhoades also placed Edward O'Keefe on probation for two years, ordered him to perform 100 hours of community service and instructed him to refrain from doing any work involving computer security while he's on probation, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
The judge left it to probation officials to determine the specifics of O'Keefe's work-release program and community service, the newspaper reported.
O'Keefe, 38, was a co-founder of ForensicTec Solutions. He pleaded guilty earlier this year to one misdemeanor count of gaining unauthorized access to U.S, Army computers.
In exchange for his guilty plea, Assistant U.S. Attorney John Parmley dismissed six felony counts of gaining unauthorized access to scores of military and government computer systems, the Union-Tribune reported.
In August 2002, O'Keefe revealed to The Washington Post that his company had wained unauthorized access to government computers as a way to expose lax security. Prosecutors said the idea behind seeking publicity was to attract new clients for the security firm and increase profits.
Parmley said O'Keefe caused $95,624 in expenses to various government agencies, including the U.S. Army, the National Institute of Health and NASA because of the time they spent "trying to figure out what had happened to their computers," the newspaper reported.
Posted by Mark at August 2, 2005 10:49 PM
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