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A man arrested in 2005 for hacking into the computers of the US arm of mobile company T-mobile has been sentenced.
Nicholas Lee Jacobsen, 23, was given one year home detention and ordered to pay USD10,000 to the mobile firm.
In 2004 he accessed personal records of hundreds of T-Mobile customers, including a Secret Service agent.
Although Jacobsen was able to read some sensitive data used by Special Agent Peter Cavicchia no investigations were compromised, the Secret Service said.
“What you’ve done is very dangerous to others. Maybe you didn’t fully appreciate that, perhaps because of your youth,” District Judge George King told Jacobsen at the Los Angeles court.
At the time of his arrest in October 2005 T-Mobile said the “stringent procedures” the company uses to monitor for suspicious activity on their network had limited his activities.
It was thought that he had tried and failed to access credit card details, held on a separate computer system.
However, he did uncover the names and Social Security numbers of 400 customers.
He was also able to see secret service information that Special Agent Cavicchia could access through his wireless communication T-Mobile Sidekick device.
In court Mr Jacobsen said that he had done some “very stupid things” and that at the time of the offence he had lacked “comprehension and maturity.”
The maximum sentence for accessing a protected computer is five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 (£130,000). |
