LulzSec members plead guilty to hacking Sony
Two British teenagers have admitted they participated in DDoS attacks on Sony and others
Two members of "hacktivist" group LulzSec have pleaded guilty to hacking Sony and other companies with DDoS (distributed denial of service) attacks. Ryan Cleary, 20, and Jake Davis, 19, both admitted to the Southwark Crown Court that they took part in the attacks on Sony, Nintendo, 20th Century Fox, NHS and others. Cleary pleaded guilty to six of eight charges filed by London prosecutors at a hearing today, while Davis pleaded guilty to two of four charges.
Cleary, who is already jailed in the UK was indicted earlier this month by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles. His attorney has said she would "fiercely contest" any moves to extradite her client to America.
"Cleary is a skilled hacker. He controlled his own botnet, employed sophisticated methods and his broad geographic scope affected a large number of businesses and individuals," FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller told Reuters in mid-June.
Ryan Ackroyd and another 17-year-old man whose identity is being concealed for legal reasons, pleaded not guilty to four charges. They both denied attacking websites from Sony, Eve Online, Nintendo, News Corp.'s British unit and others. They also denied stealing and posting confidential information obtained by the hacking efforts.
A judge in the UK has set a trial date for next April.