Student Hacks ‘Invaluable’ Info From Facebook, Given Eight Months in Prison
- Posted on February 17, 2012 at 7:26pm by
Liz Klimas
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Glenn Mangham. (Photo: Nicholas Razzell/The Telegraph)
LONDON (AP) — A British student who stole sensitive information from Facebook‘s internal network was sentenced to eight months in prison Friday in what prosecutors described as the most serious case of social media hacking ever brought before the country’s courts.
Prosecutor Sandip Patel said that Glenn Mangham, 26, had hacked into the social networking giant’s computers from his bedroom in the northern England city of York and stole what was described as “invaluable” intellectual property.
“He acted with determination, undoubted ingenuity and it was sophisticated, it was calculating,” Patel told London’s Southwark Crown Court ahead of sentencing Friday. He added later: “This represents the most extensive and grave incident of social media hacking to be brought before the British courts.”
London Chief Prosecutor Alison Saunders echoed Patel’s description, saying in a statement that Mangham’s actions were “extensive and flagrant.” It was not immediately clear exactly what he stole, although Saunders said that no personal user data had been compromised.
Scotland Yard said in a statement that the breach had occurred “over a short period of time” in April of last year. The court was told that Mangham had obtained the information after hacking into the account of a Facebook employee while the staff member was on vacation.
The police statement said that Facebook Inc. discovered the breach in May and alerted the FBI, who traced the source of the attack back to Britain. Scotland Yard’s e-crimes unit raided Mangham’s home on June 2.
The software development student pleaded guilty on Dec. 13. His lawyer, Tony Ventham, described Mangham as an “ethical hacker” who saw the stunt as a challenge – and stressed that his client had never tried to sell the stolen data or pass it on to anyone else.
“This is someone who in previous times would have thrown everything aside to seek the source of the Nile,” Ventham said. “He was in his own world, his own bedroom, his own mind, his own project and certainly his intention throughout was to contact Facebook in due course when he had rectified their problems.”
But while Judge Alistair McCreath accepted that Mangham had not tried to profit from his crime, he said that the defendant’s actions still had “very serious potential consequences” which could have been “utterly disastrous” for Facebook.
“This was not just a bit of harmless experimentation,” McCreath told Mangham. “You accessed the very heart of the system of an international business of massive size, so this was not just fiddling about in the business records of some tiny business of no great importance.”
The Palo Alto, California-based Facebook said in a statement that it applauded police and prosecutors’ efforts in the case, adding: “We take any attempt to gain unauthorized access to our network very seriously.”
The company, which boasts some 845 million users worldwide, recently filed papers for its initial public offering at the beginning of this month, putting it on track to price its stock in May or June.
Facebook is expected to be valued at $75 billion to $100 billion.
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scrapadapolis
Posted on February 20, 2012 at 12:20amFacebook will try to open on the stock market for about 6 months,Then It will become a flash in the pan when the government has access to all user accounts and when the masses find out facebook will be a hasbeen.Hey hows that other social network doing?I forgot the name.O yea Myspace..Put him in prison for 10 years.technology will be Americas down fall..morons.cell phones.computer check outs,computer gas pumps,Tvs that have digital signals and computer hookups,gps,computer controlled heating,smart phone home control while away.heck will someone like this kid hack my house and open my garage door and shut off the alarm and steal me blind?You people should listen to your parents when we said we had 3 channels and had to get off our butts to change them or lower the volume.Then again their the OWS arn’t they?Jason K Solvay NY..PS if you don’t go back in time with the old stuff you will suffer at the hands of technology..have back up..and it isn’t gold!!
Report Post »TiocFaidhArLa
Posted on February 20, 2012 at 12:12am“Well Deserved”, idiots, you don’t even know what data he stole lol probably info on how they are spyng on us.
Report Post »stupid, stupid, computer illiterate neo cons
rovinrobin
Posted on February 19, 2012 at 8:51amMaybe Russia Today will give him a job as Assange’s intern.
Report Post »JustMeHere_01
Posted on February 18, 2012 at 10:43pmIn my opinion this was well deserved. What he did may not have been detrimental but one would hope that it would send a message to other hackers. Why should innocent people continually be subjected to persons wanting to hack into personal computers.
If only they could trace “anoymous” and groups such as those and put them in jail. I am sorry but I have little sympathy for people for their own amusement sitting around and deciding to hack into anyones account. I feel that it is an intrusion just as much as someone breaking and entering into someones home.
I think he should have gotten more than the 8 months that he was given.
Report Post »kevinj319
Posted on February 19, 2012 at 2:02amThe fact of the matter is he was trying to expose facebook’s security flaws, not hack into an account for amusement.
Report Post »kevinj319
Posted on February 18, 2012 at 5:58pmThis judge is a D-bag.
“You accessed the very heart of the system of an international business of massive size, so this was not just fiddling about in the business records of some tiny business of no great importance.”
So because it was FACEBOOK, this is a bad crime. If he had hacked a mom and pop shop, that wouldn’t be nearly as bad.
Seriously, give him community service or probation. Was he did was misguided, but clearly without ill intent. If he wanted to use the information he obtained, he would have. But he didn’t.
Facebook has major security problems and this just highlights that.
Report Post »Junter
Posted on February 18, 2012 at 5:06amCorporations being put before people…
Report Post »Brian555
Posted on February 18, 2012 at 4:25amThis is clearly wrong. Glenn is a good force and should be put to good use. Sad to see corporations having more power than people and common sense.
Report Post »garbagecanlogic
Posted on February 17, 2012 at 10:41pmGot what he deserves! Save space in his cell for the cia, fbi etc thugs.
Pray For Obama. Psalm 109:8
The U.S. Out Of The U.N.
Report Post »The U.N. Out Of The U.S.
4-The-Truth
Posted on February 17, 2012 at 9:49pmI guess we will see Anonymous attack Facebook now. I bet Glenn Mangham has a wonder future with Google+ waiting him when he gets out.
Report Post »ALL4FREEDOM
Posted on February 17, 2012 at 9:05pmWhen he gets out, we need to hire this guy.
Report Post »cobra two
Posted on February 17, 2012 at 7:51pmOkay, so let me get this straight. This cat hacks into foolbook obtains some sensitive dirt and gets 8 months in the big house. However, In our wonderful country, the CIA, FBI, BIG SIS, LITTLE SIS, BIG
Report Post »Brother, etc can track every freakin minute of your life , tell you what you had for dinner two weeks ago, and there is NOTHING YOU can do about it. and it’s okay that they do it.
candcantiques
Posted on February 17, 2012 at 8:51pmI‘d be glad to hire him but he probably couldn’t get a passport to come to Florida now.
Report Post »candcantiques
Posted on February 17, 2012 at 8:53pmI would say that the people need this kid to shut down the 30,000 drones the government just authorized.
Report Post »Stoic one
Posted on February 17, 2012 at 9:12pmCobra, yep that’s pretty much it.
Oh and the ‘that’s ok part….well yea the gov’t is ok with monitoring us little folks .
Report Post »Meyvn
Posted on February 17, 2012 at 7:50pmSo what. Facebook is a bloated business of no great importance.
Report Post »2theADDLED
Posted on February 17, 2012 at 10:58pmFacebook has a large if not the largest server farm and lets them be used for evil purposes when you track suspicious port connections they trace back to Facebook servers but are registered under fake names. I recall Facebook and Google had SSL licenses stolen and only heard Google addressed and corrected their problem.
Report Post »foobear
Posted on February 17, 2012 at 7:41pmIf he didn’t do anything with the data, he shouldn’t have been sentenced to 8 months in jail. That’s just preposterous.
Give the guy a job.
Report Post »steelpanther
Posted on February 17, 2012 at 8:29pmIt’s still the digital equivelent to trespassing or vandalism. Still going to get jail time if you break into a musesm, steal the Mona Lisa, get out and then mail it back in a poster tube.
Corp or person, people don’t like other people messing with their stuff, and in my opinion, that’s the way it should be. If they don’t want it, I sure don’t.
Report Post »Abigail Adams
Posted on February 18, 2012 at 2:24pmWell if he broke into my house, went into my daughter’s bedroom, and went into her dresser and the only thing he did was handle her underwear, you better believe I’d want him to serve jail time! Would I be thrilled he wasn’t violent? Absolutely! But I would still be horrified that he broke into my house and accessed very personal belongings of my family. There is no gray area in this case. It’s either right or wrong and it was clearly wrong and he clearly knew it.
Report Post »HorseCrazy
Posted on February 17, 2012 at 7:39pmSounds like the CIA should have gone over there and gotten him so he could help stop china and russia from continually hacking our power grid and nuclear secrets. instead a highly intelligent youngster will be sitting in prison. too bad opportunity missed.
Report Post »candcantiques
Posted on February 17, 2012 at 8:52pmI agree put the kid to work……. fighting the corrupt governments businesses and bankers
Report Post »Charles
Posted on February 17, 2012 at 9:39pmIt is odd he was sentenced to 8 months. He could of punched whats-his-face who “owns” facebook right in the face and he wouldn’t have done 8 days. Who or what did he really compromise? There’s more to this story. The CIA could use his expertise. That is, unless that’s who he compromised.
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