Justice Dept. charges Reuters employee Matthew Keys with helping Anonymous hack Tribune Co.

Doran ‏@doranb

RT @ForbesTech: Justice Dept. charges Reuters employee Matthew Keys with helping Anonymous hack Tribune Co. http://bit.ly/ZRhyyo


http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffbercovici/2013/03/14/reuters-employee-matthew-keys-indicted-for-helping-anonymous-hack-tribune-co/

A social media producer for Reuters faces federal prosecution after allegedly helping the hacker collective Anonymous break into the computer systems of the Los Angeles Times and its corporate parent, Tribune Co.

The Department of Justice indicted Matthew Keys, a 26-year-old from Sacramento, Calif., on three counts of hacking-related felonies, which carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and $250,000.

According to the indictment, which is embedded below, Keys is a former employee of the Sacramento television station KTXS-Fox 40, where he worked as a web producer. In December 2010, in an online forum used by Anonymous, Keys, under the username AESCracked, allegedly shared a username and password that he told them would allow them to access the content management system of Fox 40 and the Times.

One hacker, operating under the screen name Sharpie, told Keys he “had a whole front page layout made for the chicago tribune” but “there [sic] sysadmins were good” and quickly shut down his access. Keys allegedly attempted to get Sharpie back into the system but was unable.

(Apparently looking for a story and later on says he did not offer any confidentiality, which is a journalist's job, to protect their sources...more at the link.)