Adrian Lamo, who gained a reputation as the "homeless
hacker" for his itinerant lifestyle has been sentenced to six
months of home confinement after pleading guilty in January to
charges that he broke into the internal computer network of The New
York Times.
Lamo, 23, also was sentenced to two years of probation and
ordered to pay more than $64,900 (£34,000) in restitution, after he
hacked into the New York Times internal computer network, accessed
and modified confidential databases and used the paper's LexisNexis
account to conduct research, according to a spokesman for the US
Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.
Lamo acknowledged hacking into the Times' network in February 2002
and accessing a database containing personal information on more
than 3,000 individuals who contributed editorials to the paper's
Op-Ed page. Lamo also acknowledged setting up user accounts through
the Times account with the LexisNexis online information service,
which Lamo used for more than 3,000 searches over a three-month
period.
Lamo faced a statutory maximum of up to five years in prison and
a fine of $250,000 for his crimes. The restitution includes $18,500
to cover the cost of the LexisNexus searches, said Sean Hecker,
Lamo's attorney. The Times initially estimated those costs at about
$300,000.
During his probation, Lamo will have restricted access to
computers and e-mail and will be monitored by probation officers,
Hecker said.
Lamo will live at his parents' home in Sacramento, California,
during the home detention. He will be allowed to leave home to
attend school but probably will have to wear a monitoring bracelet
that tracks his movements throughout the detention period.
Lamo gained notoriety long before hacking The New York Times for
his rootless life on the streets of San Francisco and for his skill
in penetrating the networks of high-profile companies such as
Yahoo, Microsoft and Worldcom.
Lamo confessed to the Times break-in during an interview with
Securityfocus.com, a computer security news website, in February
2002. That confession prompted an internal investigation by the
Times that uncovered evidence of Lamo's activities, and resulted in
a case being opened by the FBI.
Before turning himself in to authorities in Sacramento, Lamo
spent a number of days in hiding after the government issued a
warrant for his arrest in September 2003.
"I think the sentence is fair and just and the resolution is a
good one. Adrian is looking forward to putting all this behind
him," Hecker said.
Paul Roberts writes for IDG News Service