Hacker who disrupted Sony gaming gets a 27-months jail sentence

Pierluigi Paganini July 04, 2019

Austin Thompson (23) from Utah, the hacker who carried out massive DDoS attacks on Sony, EA, and Steam gets a 27-months prison sentence.

The hacker who brought offline with massive DDoS attacks online gaming networks between December 2013 and January 2014 has been sentenced to 27 months in prison.

Austin Thompson (23) from Utah hit the principal gamins networks in 2013 and 2014, including Sony Online Entertainment.

“Austin Thompson of Utah was sentenced in federal court today to 27 months in prison for  carrying out a series of so-called denial-of-service computer hacking attacks against multiple victims between 2013 and 2014. The defendant was also ordered to pay $95,000 in restitution to one of the victims –  Daybreak Games, formerly Sony Online Entertainment.” reads the press release published by DoJ.

The plea agreement states that Thompson had announced an imminent attack through the Twitter account “DerpTrolling,” before to launch it.

Thompson, a.k.a. “DerpTroll,” admitted to being a part of DerpTrolling, a hacker collective that launched DDoS attacks against several major online gaming platforms including Electronic Arts’ Origin service, Sony PlayStation network, and Valve Software’s Steam during Christmas holiday.

Sony hack

On Tuesday in San Diego, he was sentenced to 27 months in prison.

The attacks saturated the resources of the websites and made it impossible to access them for several hours. Thompson was also ordered to pay $95,000 to compensate Sony Online (now called Daybreak Games).

“The defendant, who is free on bond, was ordered to surrender to authorities on August 23 to begin his sentence.” concludes the DoJ.

Denial-of-service attacks cost businesses and individuals millions of dollars annually,” said U.S. Attorney Robert Brewer. “We are committed to prosecuting hackers who intentionally disrupt internet access.” Brewer praised Assistant U.S. Attorney John Parmley and the FBI’s San Diego Field Office for their hard work on this case.”

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Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – Sony, DDoS)

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