back to article Ex-LulzSec bloke to spend a YEAR in the cooler for Sony hack

A former LulzSec hacker has been jailed for a year for ransacking Sony Pictures Entertainment's computer systems. Cody Kretsinger, 25, from Decatur, Illinois - better known to his fellow LulzSec cohorts as "Recursion" - was also ordered to carry out 1,000 hours of community service, and a year of home detention, following his …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    Who's laughing now?

    Me :)

    1. Shagbag

      Re: Who's laughing now?

      Hector Xavier "Sabu" Monsegur, was revealed in March 2012 as an FBI informer who had been grassing on his former cohorts for 10 months after his arrest in June 2011. Sabu's sentencing was delayed by 6 months in February due to his "ongoing cooperation with the government".

      A grass? I bet you he's going to be somebody's bitch when he eventually goes inside "pound-me-in-the-ass-prison". Unless he's that way inclined, he won't be laughing.

      If you ask me, they did it all wrong. They should've gone to Chine and lived there and done it - where the local police and politicians really don't give a shit about Hollywood - or the Japz for that matter.

      It's pathetic that homegrown talent gets banged up while offshore nothing happens - they laugh in the face of America.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Stop

        Re: Who's laughing now?

        It's pathetic that homegrown talent gets banged up while offshore nothing happens - they laugh in the face of America.

        Talent ?????????

      2. danR2

        Re: Who's laughing now?

        Sabu's been in prison before, and he's a big guy. Also, a lot of Lulz stuff was anti-cop/prison guard. He'll be welcomed as a king.

        1. Matt Bryant Silver badge
          Devil

          Re: danR2 Re: Who's laughing now?

          ".....He'll be welcomed as a king." More likely as their new queen.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: danR2 Who's laughing now?

            @Matt Bryant - "More likely as their new queen."

            Sounds like you and Shagbag speak from experience.

            1. Matt Bryant Silver badge
              Happy

              Re: AC Re: danR2 Who's laughing now?

              "....Sounds like you and Shagbag speak from experience." No, it's called imagination and a sense of humour, both probably alien entities to yourself, along with intelligent thought and responsibility.

              1. Anonymous Coward
                Anonymous Coward

                Re: AC danR2 Who's laughing now?

                Matt Bryant - something touch a raw nerve? Methinks the lady, sorry queen, doth protest too much.

                1. Matt Bryant Silver badge
                  Facepalm

                  Re: AC Re: AC danR2 Who's laughing now?

                  "....something touch a raw nerve?...." Sorry to burst your little homophobic bubble, but no, you provide nothing more than amusement, in keeping with the rest of the Anonyputzs, Dickileaks and other self-deluding Faithful. For you to touch a nerve you would first have to have an original thought, and that would seem as likely as QPR winning this year's Premier League.

                  ".....Methinks the lady, sorry queen, doth protest too much." Ask your mum, when the milkman or the postie's through with her. Don't interrupt her, she needs the money for your school uniform.

                  1. Anonymous Coward
                    Anonymous Coward

                    Re: AC AC danR2 Who's laughing now?

                    @Matt Bryant - when in a hole, it's advisable to not keep digging -the more frothy mouthed you get the more people are going to ask questions. As for my mum, she's a 75 year old widow, so fair play to her if she's still getting banged by the milkman and the postie. And if she's charging it'll certainly help supplement her pension.

                    1. Matt Bryant Silver badge
                      FAIL

                      Re: AC AC danR2 Who's laughing now?

                      ".....when in a hole...." LOL! It is very obviously you and your similarly upset skiddie friends, all crying over Recursion's inevitable trip to prison, that are very obviously in a hole seeing as you cannot post anything relevant. No arguments, no justifications, just whiney posts against those that mock your "hero" for the very obvious fool he is. What, did it all get a bit too serious for you when the lulz started getting jail time?

                      ".....the more frothy mouthed you get...." Park your ego, chum, that's me laughing at you, no frothing involved.

                      ".... As for my mum, she's a 75 year old widow...." And she's still paying for you to get through school at that age! Hadn't you better buck up and pass first grade, you can't go on living in her basement for ever.

                      1. Anonymous Coward
                        Anonymous Coward

                        Re: AC AC danR2 Who's laughing now?

                        Matt, ever been trolled before?

                        .

                        .

                        Checks Matt's previous posts

                        .

                        .

                        Clearly you have. No lesson learned though.

                        1. Matt Bryant Silver badge
                          Happy

                          Re: Re: AC AC danR2 Who's laughing now?

                          "Matt, ever been trolled before?......" And, as expected, unable to present an argument you fall back on the "it was only a joke, just for lulz, etc" fail. But I expected that from the first post you made as AC - when "trolling for the lulz" it is customary to tag up. Straight back at you, that sound is me ROFLMAO.

      3. csmac3144
        Stop

        Re: Who's laughing now?

        "Unless he's that way inclined, he won't be laughing."

        So men who are "that way inclined" just automatically enjoy being raped by other men in prison? That's one of the most bigoted things I've read in months.

  2. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

    Remind me

    How many years did Sony execs get for hacking millions of consumer's PCs?

    1. Mystic Megabyte

      Re: Remind me

      That's why I won't buy Sony products again.

      Sorry that I could only upvote you once.

    2. The BigYin

      Re: Remind me

      Sony execs are rich enough to buy politicians. The law does not apply to them.

      Don't buy Sony.

    3. Dante

      Re: Remind me

      You got downvotes - apparently it's all fine and dandy to drop rootkits.

      1. Frankee Llonnygog

        Re: Remind me

        LulzSec's mistake was in not having Sony click 'I accept' on a EULA

      2. The BigYin

        Re: Remind me

        Some people downvote if you speak out against whatever they happen to have a hard-on for. Be it Apple, Windows, Linux or Sony; people will just think "This was anti-My Thing" and downvote without caring about content.

        Sony engaged in a mass hack of consumer PCs and faced zero censure. If their execs were given a similar punishment as Mr. Ex-Lulz here; you can be others would take note.

        But the rich can buy the justice they want. Unlike you and me.

        1. MJI Silver badge

          Re: Remind me

          No it isn't it is because the idiots in the music side did it over the heads of head office. Sony music needs culling not Sony corp.

          Sony Computer Entertainment is totally different to the home of Simon Cowell, it is actually respected for a start.

          Perhaps people are fed up of people having a go at SCE? (? = A E or J), for the crimes of BMG and Columbia. This is where greed beat the traditional quality thing.

          BTW I have no BMG music. Yet I have Naughty Dog products.

          1. h3

            Re: Remind me

            It is not respected it treats its customers with utter contempt like the rest of Sony. (See OtherOS etc etc)

          2. asdf

            Re: Remind me

            You can map the exact moment when things turned and Sony started to lose its way and it was with the purchase of CBS records in 1988. Media studios make shitty hardware because they care more about protecting their own business models than giving the customers what they want (see Sony for last decade). This is why we say iPod and iPhone today instead of iWalkman and whatever Sony would have called their phone.

          3. The BigYin

            Re: Remind me

            Sony Corp failed to act. No apology was given, no compensation paid, no execs fired, no execs prosecuted. Through their inaction, Sony Corp made themselves culpable. We've had "willful negligence" to that I add "willful inaction".

            NEVER buy Sony.

            1. asdf

              Re: Remind me

              >no execs fired

              Not revive a zombie thread but the only thing Sony did right in that whole fiasco was to shitcan their CIO over the whole deal. I mean corporate America always needs one patsy to blame everything on to avoid liability.

        2. MJI Silver badge

          Re: Remind me punishments

          Sony engaged in a mass hack of consumer PCs and faced zero censure. If their execs were given a similar punishment as Mr. Ex-Lulz here; you can be others would take note.

          As long as it is BMG staff go ahead, do what you want, just leave the rest alone, most people actually like Kaz and co.

          BTW lets blame Simon Cowell, he will do.

      3. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

        Re: Remind me

        >You got downvotes - apparently it's all fine and dandy to drop rootkits.

        Maybe Sony have a (very small) botnet?

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Remind me

      Words

      Mouth

      Out of.

      But you got downvoted ?? WTF ?

    5. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Remind me

      Want to explain your rationale?

      I'm guessing you are talking about " First 4 Internet" from a decade ago, so tell us how that directly translates into " Sony execs get for hacking millions of consumer's PCs"

      More so that it was only ever on 10,000 CD's the vast majority of which were recalled. So your millions of consumer PC's is at best a couple of hundred, and even then nobody actually got hacked off the back of it...

      Isn't it great how idiots believe any old internet myth if it suits their agenda.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    $600,000?

    May as well say eleventytrillion bars of gold. It's about as likely to get paid.

    1. Don Jefe
      Meh

      Re: $600,000?

      Agreed. The shittiest part is that his paycheck will be garnished until the fine is paid. Court ordered fines are deducted from your paycheck by your employer before you even get the check. You still have to pay taxes on it too... Fines can't be taken from 'social benefits' though so our wonderful legal system has created another person who has no reason to work and to live off 'the dole' forever.

      1. Ru

        Re: $600,000?

        our wonderful legal system has created another person who has no reason to work and to live off 'the dole' forever

        The key point you're missing there is that the gentleman in question has no incentive to do any legitimate work.

        1. Don Jefe

          Re: $600,000?

          He's just a kid and I doubt he planned on basically being forced to be a career criminal. Plus he got caught so his prospects as a criminal aren't too bright.

          1. Phil O'Sophical Silver badge

            Re: $600,000?

            > Plus he got caught so his prospects as a criminal aren't too bright.

            Funny how those two always seem to go together...

          2. The BigYin

            Re: $600,000?

            No are his job prospects. I wonder what interest the court placed on the US$600,000? Chap is going to a slave to Sony for life now.

      2. John Brown (no body) Silver badge
        Coat

        Re: $600,000?

        "his paycheck will be garnished"

        What with? A sprig of thyme?

        If you can't do the thyme, don't do the crhyme!

  4. MJI Silver badge

    They did not realise they would upset a load of gamers

    We have no sympathy when we remember 2011, I couldn't play with my friends, we couldn't post on PS verified forums.

    That was a right pain, luckily I had just bought a cheap game in Tesco with a long SP component.

  5. M7S

    Home detention?

    Admittedly I'm not sure what this is, but if it is just a curfew, compared to time in jail would that really upset a computer geek? He can still get Pizza delivered, right? Or is there some kind of "thou shalt not use any electronic device/the internet" provision

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Yeah but...

    Of all the thousands of people that took part in in it all, you can count the people who have been convicted with two hands and still have fingers to spare.

  7. Irongut Silver badge

    Lulz

    Who's laughing now bitch!

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    So when do we get to see the first company fined (for whatever reason) with a billion billion dollars? If individuals can be fined with amounts several orders of magnitude higher than they're ever likely earn, why can't be companies? Are the fuckers exempt or what?

    1. stanimir
      Devil

      The companies are "too big to fail" and cannot be tried under criminal law. As we all know money laundering for drug cartels is a fine only verdict. Something among the lines.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Lulz

  10. Aitor 1

    So

    One company gets hacked, 1 year for cooperating.

    You hack 100.000s of people: a fine.

    Nice to be part of sony.

  11. BornToWin

    This is a bad decision

    IMO opinion this guy is getting off way too easy for hacking. Five years in prison plus treble damages plus all cost of prosecution and incarceration, would be appropriate.

    1. MissingSecurity

      Re: This is a bad decision

      Yet, you are completely content that it was bloody trivial what they did and no one gives a damn. A few PR stuns by Sony and the like and magically everything is better?

      5 years for what? Demonstrating that people collectivity don't know shit about tech or security? I wasn't a big LolSec fan, but that fact that people are so willing to target "script kiddies" is more sad in my mind. Glad corporate BS can be bought with a couple of cheap PR words.

    2. Roo
      Mushroom

      Sony owe *us* $1bn, let's see their money first (was Re: This is a bad decision)

      No Sony employees have gone to prison or paid any fines for busting a few hundred thousand machines with their rootkit. That fine amounts to about $2500/hr in clean up costs. Allowing about 4 hours labour to repair each PC that Sony broke (that's a very low-ball estimate) that would equate to $10K per machine that Sony owes it's customers for fixing the damage done by their rootkit. IIRC that rootkit infected an awful lot of machines, but let's be kind to Sony here and say it was a mere 100,000 machines they fekked. By this judgement's arithmetic Sony owe at least $1bn to the poor suckers who bought Alicia Key's CDs.

      That isn't even taking into account that the damage done to some of those PCs would have cost people lost business too... So that $1bn figure is a *very* low ball estimate, it could easily be 10 times that in practice.

    3. Intractable Potsherd

      Re: This is a bad decision @BornToWin

      It seems your opinion is out of step with most people here.

      I have no sympathy with Sony. $600k is an amount their corporates could easily spend in white powder a year, so they lost nothing. They would have done better holding up their hands, doing the coporate equivalent of a wry shrug and saying "Well, we got pwned! It probably serves us right for the whole rootkit thing!" Their reputation would have gone up no end. But no, they have to be vindictive, and ensure that they are about as popular as fart in a space-suit for years to come.

      Silly, but that is the world these lunatic corporations have created - no-one should be surprised when people kick back, and really the kickers should be supported by the rest of us.

  12. Electric Panda
    Mushroom

    Meanwhile the British LulzSec element will be sentenced to a slap on the wrist and early to bed without any cocoa, with time off for good behaviour and a guilty plea.

    If, however, they had poked fun at somebody using Twitter or posted a racist joke on Facebook they'd all be off to Wakefield for 35 years. I'm not sure if the UK justice system is quaint and old fashioned, or just plain broken.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I'd consider any justice system that uses the term 'life imprisonment' and doesn't mean it broken.

      1. Electric Panda

        They really should update the wording. "Life imprisonment" and a "life sentence" clearly aren't the same thing.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          It's just a horse life sentence, that's all

    2. Intractable Potsherd

      Actually, you are right - it *is* broken. Both situations you mention should be non-custodial sentences.

  13. cannon
    Big Brother

    law is for the poor

    so what about james murdoch, rupert mordoch, piers morgan, any any of the other scum who hacked thousands of ppl's phones & emails?

    1. curious orange
      Childcatcher

      Re: law is for the poor

      Actually that reminds me. Lulzsec and Anon hacked The Sun after the news broke about their hacking the dead girls (I can't remember her name) voicemail. They posted a story about Murdoch having been found dead in his Topiary garden.

      Two wrongs don't make a right and so on but that did raise a wry smile.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: law is for the poor

      @cannon - "so what about james murdoch, rupert mordoch, piers morgan, any any of the other scum who hacked thousands of ppl's phones & emails?"

      The net may be closing on James, since he was in a position to be aware of what was going on. Perhaps the massive pay off to Rebecca Brooks was to encourage her silence, but if it looks likely that she'll get jail time then she may spill the beans to save her own skin. As for Rupe, the slimy old bugger was nowhere near the chain of command at the UK newspaper titles so he's probably safe. The real travesty is Piers Morgan, who should have been jailed for insider dealing.

  14. curious orange
    Trollface

    skript kiddies

    The lulzsec crew above ate not skript kiddies (granted the huge majority of anons are), they were exceptionally skilled hackers - with the possible exception of Topiary who initially was Anon's and latterly Lulzsec's mouthpiece and defacement writer. He was taught the black arts by his friends though.

    To date I think around 100 people have been caught for ddosing Sony, The Westborough Church and a few other targets using a tool called LOIC.

  15. nuked

    They should have just employed him.

  16. yourpastcatchingupwithyou
    WTF?

    $600,000? Er....

    How do they quantify that "loss" as due to the hacking/leaking?

    It's like when companies complain of lost sales due to piracy - Can they really be sure that everyone who pirated xxxxx game/song/movie etc would actually have bought/licenced/rented etc?

    1. Intractable Potsherd

      Re: $600,000? Er....

      It's always an imaginary figure plucked from the air and then doubled just to make things seem worse.

  17. TrishaD
    Thumb Down

    It always fascinates me that, whenever El Reg posts a story about some hacker/script kiddie being sent to prison, there's always a proportion of commentards who seem to think that it's an entirely acceptable element of his punishment for him to be gang-raped.

    Really?

    I mean, really?

    1. Matt Bryant Silver badge
      FAIL

      Re: TrishaDminus

      It always fascinates me that, whenever El Reg posts any story, that there is usually someone that will get all OTT PC and bleeding-heart at the drop of a hat. The chances of Recursion being gang-raped are actually small, especially given the drive to eliminate it in US prisons, and that's before you consider that he is unlikely to go to a max security prison where the real nasties are kept.

      1. TrishaD

        Re: TrishaDminus

        The likelihood of rape is not the issue.

        People slobbering over the prospect it, however, is.

        How clever of you, by the way, to come up with the epithet 'TrishaDminus' .....

        Laugh? I almost did...

        1. Matt Bryant Silver badge
          Happy

          Re: Re: TrishaDminus

          "The likelihood of rape is not the issue......" So now you admit you're getting on your moral hobbyhorse over a non-issue? Way to make my point, thanks.

          "....People slobbering over the prospect it, however, is....." Yes, they're all there at the prison gates handing out lube, right? Maybe you should take a quick read of the many Anonyputz/Lulzsec posts all over the Web where they claimed they were "too smart to get caught", would "never do jail time", etc., etc., then you might realise why people are quite chuffed to see the little scroat go down for a stretch. You forget (because you probably don't work in IT) that many of the posters here are involved in defending their company's and home systems from such tw@s as Cody Kretsinger and may even have suffered attacks from his "crew" of numpties. I doubt if anyone actually would wish anal rape on Recursion (well, not anyone posting here, probably), but I bet there are a fair few that would be happy to trot out the old adage "don't do the crime if you can't do the time".....

          "....How clever of you, by the way, to come up with the epithet 'TrishaDminus' ....." Quite genearous, actually, seeing as your posts are pretty much F grade material - no facts, no thought, just bleating.

          ".....Laugh? I almost did......" Don't worry, I gain much hilarity from your childish and naive efforts.

          1. TrishaD

            Re: TrishaDminus

            "You forget (because you probably don't work in IT) that many of the posters here are involved in defending their company's and home systems from such tw@s as Cody Kretsinger and may even have suffered attacks from his "crew" of numpties"

            The problem with people who think they can win arguments through personal abuse is that they talk through their arses. Yes, I work in IT. I've been in information security for somewhere like 25 years, starting with RACF. Yes, one of the organisations I work for has indeed been hit by Anonymous.

            Which was pain in the neck but at least it got me some budget.

            Now go wave your dick at someone else.

            1. Matt Bryant Silver badge
              Happy

              Re: TrishaDminus Re: TrishaDminus

              "The problem with people who think they can win arguments through personal abuse is that they talk through their arses....." Cue more glee at the thought of you furiously hammering your keyboard with that one! And besides, you made the assertion that I should go stand in the corner, implying I was a troublesome child, so I suggest you take a look at your own backside in the mirror, Ms Pot, before you start righteously farting at Mr Kettle.

              ".....Yes, I work in IT. I've been in information security for somewhere like 25 years, starting with RACF....Yes, one of the organisations I work for has indeed been hit by Anonymous....." <COUGH>inside job<COUGH>!

              "....Now go wave your dick at someone else." Darling, just because you don't have one to wave, doesn't mean I think any less of you. Well, not any more than your methane-packed posts already lead me to anyway! I suggest you calm down, park the penis envy, and accept that maybe not everyone shares your tender concerns for Mr Kretsinger, and the more you try to lecture the more likely your viewpoint will be held up to ridicule. Whilst I'm sure that your "compassion" makes you a better person than I, I really couldn't give a damn for the future of Mr Kretsinger and would quite happily pack him off to a Turkish prison if it meant his cretinous chums got the message.

              /BTW, the Turkish prison ref is an "Airplane!" joke, you might want to add it to your list of material you need to study to make you a more rounded and grounded individual. Enjoy!

              1. TrishaD

                Re: TrishaDminus TrishaDminus

                "I suggest you calm down, park the penis envy, and accept that maybe not everyone shares your tender concerns for Mr Kretsinger, and the more you try to lecture the more likely your viewpoint will be held up to ridicule"

                That knee of yours seems to be causing you some trouble.

                You see, Mr B, I didnt mention whether Codie K deserved his sentence or not. For the record I'd say that a year is about right. What I raised was the curious tendency of commentators on here to consider that rape in prison might in some way be considered to be appropriate punishment.

                Which apparently makes me some sort of bleeding heart liberal, but hey ho....

                1. Matt Bryant Silver badge
                  Happy

                  Re: TrishaDminus TrishaDminus

                  ".....That knee of yours seems to be causing you some trouble....." Dear, dear, darling, I merely carefully chose the barb that I suspected would hit home. After all, you did start on the whole "dick waving" man-hater trip, and that was after your reflexive accusations of childishness. Once again, Ms Pot meet Mr Kettle!

                  ".....For the record I'd say that a year is about right....." Well, on that point we disagree, I would prefer to see a much longer custodial sentence, but then I suspect they cut him some slack when he grassed up all his chums.

                  "....What I raised was the curious tendency of commentators on here to consider that rape in prison might in some way be considered to be appropriate punishment....." This one is amusing. Not so long ago I had a discussion with a group of women as to why they enjoyed seeing men getting kneed in the jewels in films. If you watch men and they see a bloke getting kneed there then they usually flinch in sympathy, but women shriek with glee. I suspect a man-hater like yourself probably rewinds and replays every such incident. It seems you are quite happy to see men punished with violence to their private regions, but then get on your moral hobby-horse when men suggest anything you decide to dislike. Yet more hypocracy from Ms Pot.......

  18. Dylan Fahey
    Pirate

    Trade in, give it away, just get rid of it

    I gave away my PS3 to some poor people in the Philippines along with my games. FUCK SONY. I won't be using ANY of their products.

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