38-year-old Michael Pullen of Dry Didge, Kentucky, has been sentenced to five months in prison and two years of probation after hacking into several accounts on the social networking website SodaHead.com.
Pullen didn’t cause any damage. Instead, he hacked into the accounts of those who posted homophobic and racist comments and replaced their posts with something less offensive, nky.cincinnati.comreported.
He used a software vulnerability to gain access to the accounts he targeted.
The defense lawyer argued that his client was simply a prankster and he shouldn’t have been sentenced to jail. However, SodaHead.com representatives claimed that Pullen’s hacking posed a threat to the company. They were desperately working to find the vulnerability leveraged by the hacker.
For this, Pullen will also have to pay $21,000 (€15,000) to the company.
The man was sentenced under the controversial Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). However, legal experts argue that this is a “fairly straightforward application of the law.”
“We might want some type of restriction against accessing someone’s private space on a computer – even if it is done as a prank,” noted Eric Goldman, an expert in Internet law.
“Having said all of that, it isn’t clear whether this was all that harmful. There was probably some teeth gnashing, but what other damages were incurred from his intrusion?” he added.
Pullen started surfing SodaHead.com in 2009 after losing his job. He exploited a bug in the social media network to hijack accounts.
He claimed he only did it for around two weeks, but he quickly attracted the attention of the US Secret Service.
Agents showed up at his house in March 2010. However, he was only charged in November 2012. He will have to turn himself in to a federal work camp in Ashland by October 21.
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