[BreachExchange] TalkTalk hacker who blackmailed executives in £77million cyber attack is jailed

[Destry Winant]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/06/10/talktalk-hacker-blackmailed-executives-77million-cyber-attack/

A"cruel and calculating" cyber criminal who took part in a massive
TalkTalk hack and blackmailed former chief executive Dido Harding has
been locked up for four years.

Daniel Kelley, from Llanelli, South Wales, turned to "black hat"
hacking when he failed to get the GCSE grades to get on to a computer
course.

He hacked the college "out of spite" before targeting companies in
Canada, Australia and the UK - including the telecommunications giant
which has four million customers.

The 22-year-old has Asperger's syndrome and has suffered from
depression and extreme weight loss since he pleaded guilty to 11
hacking-related offences in 2016.

Judge Mark Dennis sentenced him at the Old Bailey to four years'
detention in a young offenders institution.

Judge Dennis said Kelley hacked computers "for his own personal
gratification" regardless of the damage caused.

He went on to blackmail company bosses, revealing a "cruel and
calculating side to his character", he said.

Kelley caused "stress and anxiety" to his victims as well as harm to
their businesses, with the total cost to TalkTalk from multiple
hackers estimated at £77 million.

Previously, prosecutor Peter Ratliff has described Kelley as a
"prolific, skilled and cynical cyber-criminal" who was willing to
"bully, intimidate, and then ruin his chosen victims from a perceived
position of anonymity and safety - behind the screen of a computer".

Between September 2013 and November 2015, he engaged in a wide range
of hacking activities, using stolen information to blackmail
individuals and companies.