Matthew Keys, 28, was found guilty of three felonies, including conspiracy to make unauthorized changes to the Tribune Co.’s websites and damage its computer systems, and transmitting malicious code.
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After posting the credentials to allow access to the Tribune Company server, Keys urged members of Anonymous to “go f*ck a few shit up” at several of the Tribune Company’s websites, including that of the Los Angeles Times.
Prosecutors said Keys attacked Tribune after leaving his job at its KTXL Fox 40 television station in Sacramento.
The case against Keys has drawn wide attention, in part for his later employment as a social media editor for Reuters.
His attorneys contended that any adjustment was a relatively harmless prank that did not merit charges carrying a maximum penalty of up to 10 years in federal prison.
In an interview with The Times following his conviction, Keys used an expletive to describe the government’s case against him and tweeted the same sentiment.
Matthew Keys escorted by his legal team.
A story on PBS in the USA said Tupac Shakur, who was killed in 1996, was actually alive in New Zealand, according to the BBC. He will be sentenced in January. The details were then utilised by Anonymous members in 2013 in order to deface a 2010 story from Los Angeles Times. The altered story was live for about 40 minutes before an editor noticed and fixed it.
“He shouldn’t be doing a day in jail”, Leiderman told the Post.
A spokesperson for the prosecutors said Wednesday the sentence they’ll seek is likely to be less than five years.
“This case demonstrates the FBI’s commitment to identify and investigate those who harass former employers by using insider knowledge to intentionally exploit computer systems-whether directly or by proxy-to damage the reputation and operations of a business”, said Special Agent in Charge Monica M. Miller of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Sacramento field office. As part of a broader investigation into anonymous, the FBI apparently came knocking at his door.
Defense lawyers said the Times hack didn’t cause the company any losses because the damage was repaired in three minutes. Keys asked a Times reporter.
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Speaking to Sarah Jeong, covering the trial for Motherboard, Keys said that “the government wanted to send a clear message that if you want to cover a group they don’t agree with, and you’re not complicit with them [the government], they will target you”.
