Security threats Toolkit

War driver jailed for nine years

Dan Ilet ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 16 Dec 2004 12:25 GMT

A 21 year-old man has been sentenced to nine years in prison for hacking the computer networks of US hardware store group Lowe's.

According to the Associated Press, the US government declared it was the longest jail sentence ever issued in the country for hacking offences.

Brian Salcedo of Michigan was jailed for hacking wireless networks of the hardware store and attempting to steal customer credit card details from the company's central database.

Co-defendant Adam Botbyl, 21, has also pleaded guilty to similar charges but is yet to be sentenced. The men were charged with hacking into the system using a laptop, a wireless card and a long-reach antennae from the car park outside a Lowe's store. Salcedo is said to have installed a program on Lowe's central computer system in a bid to capture the credit card numbers of the company's customers.

Apparently, the FBI caught the men after hearing that Lowe's computer system had been hacked. Agents found the men using a laptop outside Lowe's store.