Utah Hacker Pleads Guilty to DoS Attacks: DoJ

Utah resident Austin Thompson has pleaded guilty to a series of denial-of-service (DoS) attacks against multiple victims between December 2013 and January 2014, the Department of Justice reported this week.

Thompson flooded victims' servers with enough traffic to knock them offline. His targets, primarily online gaming companies and servers, included Sony Online Entertainment. Attacks didn't come without warning: Thompson used the Twitter handle @DerpTrolling to announce when he was about to strike; after, he'd post photos to show a server had been taken down.

The DoJ reports his activity disabled gaming servers and other machines around the world for hours at a time. The plea agreement indicates Thompson caused at least $95,000 in damages.

"Denial-of-service attacks cost businesses millions of dollars annually," said US Attorney Adam Braverman in a statement. "We are committed to finding and prosecuting those who disrupt businesses, often for nothing more than ego."

Read more details here.

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