Be careful who you mess with, even if it is from behind a computer screen.
Eric Wosol, a 38-year-old Wisconsin man, was given two years probation and a huge fine for his part in helping out the hacktivist group Anonymous during an attack on Kochind.com in February 2011. The strategy was a denial-of-service attack, which overloads a website's server so that it can't handle the amount of information coming to it. Wosol pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of accessing a protected computer, using a DDoS tool on his home computer to attack the website, which is owned by famous right-wing siblings, the Koch brothers. Yet, Wosol's $183,000 fine may seem a little excessive, given that he claims he only participated in the attack for a minute. But the fine is equal to the amount that the Koch brothers paid to get the site fixed after the attack—even though the site was only shut down for 15 minutes. This isn't the only excessive punishment for hacking recently. Last month, a 28-year-old man was given 10 years in prison for hacking the website of an intelligence contractor.
One thing is for sure: if you're going to hack with Anonymous, make sure to stay anonymous.
[via Daily Dot]
