A British teenager who hacked into a former US security chief's TV and taunted him by posting a "I own you" message on the screen, besides targeting CIA and FBI officials, has been sentenced two years behind bars on Friday
Eighteen-year-old Kane Gamble, who tricked his way to get the officials' information, had admitted a number of charges.
He admitted targeting high-profile figures such as the then-CIA chief John Brennan and his wife, and FBI Deputy Director Mark Giuliano from his family home on a Leicestershire housing estate, The Telegraph reported.
Gamble's activities rocked the US intelligence community. His other victims working under President Barack Obama included Jeh Johnson who was the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and FBI special agent Amy Hess, among others.
The teenager posted the "I own you" message on the screen of Johnson's family home television, the report said.
The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey, heard that between June 2015 and February 2016, Gamble accessed email and phone accounts to access "extremely sensitive" documents on military and intelligence operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He impersonated his victims and conned call centres at communications giants Comcast and Verizon into divulging confidential information, The Telegraph report said.
Gamble used various websites including WikiLeaks to leak some of the information he gathered.
The court said he damaged the "effectiveness" of the wider law enforcement community, according to a Xinhua news agency report.
Gamble will serve two years at a youth detention centre. His lawyer said he was "naive" and never meant to "harm" any individuals.
But the judge, Justice Haddon-Cave said Gamble ran a campaign of cyber terrorism.
--IANS
gb/vm
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
