A judge sentenced two Queens computer hackers dubbed the Masters of Destruction to six months in prison Monday for breaking into the computer systems of some of the largest corporations in the country.
To industry experts, the case revealed how vulnerable corporate computer and communication systems are to aggressive, knowledgable hackers bent on illicit activity.Last month, the two 23-year-old defendants, Paul Stira, known by his hacking moniker of "Scorpion," and Elias "Acid Phreak" Ladopoulos pleaded guilty to conspiracy after three co-defendants had done the same.
The two remained free on bail after being sentenced Monday and are scheduled to surrender in September.
The five hackers, who were 18 to 22 years old at the time and all from Queens, used little more than personal computers and modems to finagle computer passwords to steal credit information and corrupt data bases.
U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White said the closely knit group dubbed itself MOD, for Masters of Destruction or Masters of Deception, and infiltrated computer systems from New York to California, including those operated by telephone companies, banks, credit reporting services and educational institutions.
Prosecutors said the group was motivated by a desire "to enhance their image and prestige among other computer hackers."
They also used their underground computer network to harass and intimidate rivals and "people they did not like," use telephone and information services without paying for them and obtain information they could sell to others.
When imposing sentence, U.S. District Judge Richard Owen cited the serious nature of their crime and the need to deter other would-be hackers.
Nonetheless, the convictions could have brought maximum sentences of 55 years in prison and fines as high as $2.5 million.
The case was the first time investigators used court-authorized wiretaps to obtain the conversations and data transmission of computer hackers.
Some of the companies victimized in the scam also helped authorities collect evidence, prosecutors said.