Sony Pictures Hacker Pleads Guilty

Hacker 'Recursion' Admits to Role with LulzSec Attack
Sony Pictures Hacker Pleads Guilty

Cody Kretsinger, the 24-year-old accused hacker linked to the LulzSec breach that targeted Sony Pictures Entertainment, pleaded guilty on April 5 to the role he played in the SQL injection attack that cost Sony more than $600,000 in damages.

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Kretsinger was arrested in September for the attack on Sony he waged sometime between May 27 and June 2, 2011. He faces up to 15 years in prison.

The Tempe, Ariz., man, who operated under the handle "Recursion," pleaded guilty to guilty to conspiracy and unauthorized impairment of a protected computer. "I joined LulzSec, your honor, at which point we gained access to the Sony Pictures website," Kretsinger told the court after entering his plea.

He testified that he gave the information he got from the Sony site to other members of LulzSec, who then posted it onto the group's website and on Twitter.

Kretsinger and other LulzSec hackers, including the hackers known as "Sabu" and "Topiary," are believed to have stolen personally identifiable information about thousands of Sony users. Sabu, whose real name is Hector Xavier Monsegur, a month ago pleaded guilty to hacking-related charges. As part of his plea agreement, he provided information to the Federal Bureau of Investigation about fellow hackers. With his information, federal prosecutors and the FBI filed charges last month against five other suspects for computer hacking and other crimes.


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