23Year Old Hacker Who DDoSed Sony, EA and Steam Gaming Servers Pleads Guilty.

Hacker from Utah pleaded guilty this week to launching a series of denial-of-service (DoS) attacks against multiple online services, websites, and online gaming companies between 2013 and 2014.

According to a Justice Department (DoJ) press release, Austin Thompson, a.k.a. "DerpTroll," took down servers of several major gaming platforms including Electronic Arts' Origin service, the Sony PlayStation Network, and Valve Software's Steam, between December 2013 and January 2014, by flooding them with enough internet traffic.

Thompson then typically used the Twitter account the @DerpTrolling handle to announce his attacks, subsequently posting screenshots or other photos of the server being unavailable after launching DDoS attacks.

The attacks usually took down game servers and related computers of the victim companies for at least a few hours at a time, causing at least $95,000 in damages to the gaming companies around the world.

"Denial-of-service attacks cost businesses millions of dollars annually," said U.S. Attorney Adam Braverman while announcing the plea. "We are committed to finding and prosecuting those who disrupt businesses, often for nothing more than ego."

Thompson pleaded guilty in federal court in San Diego on Thursday and was charged with causing damages to a protected computer, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years prison, a fine of $250,000, as well as three years supervised release.

Active since 2011, the DerpTrolling hacking group is believed to be operated by Thompson, who write malware used to launch the DDoS attacks against online services around the world.

However, the hacking group made headlines in late 2013 and early 2014 after disrupting online gaming servers owned by Sony, Riot Games, Microsoft, Nintendo, Valve, and Electronic Arts.

Thompson's sentencing is scheduled for March 1, 2019, before United States District Judge Jeffrey Miller.

It wasn't just DerpTrolling that created chaos in 2014. The infamous Lizard Squad hacking group also made headlines in 2014 by launching DDoS attacks against Microsoft Xbox Live and Sony PlayStation Network and knocking them offline during the Christmas holidays.

Several teenagers last year from around the world were charged with participating in the Lizard Squad 2014 DDoS attacks.

Comments

How to Host a Website for Free From Your PC or Laptop.

Why pay for a web hosting service when your old computer can do the same thing? Learn how to self-host your site. If you're planning to launch a website but don't want to pay recurring monthly or annual hosting fees, you can use any old laptop or desktop PC to host a website for free. It's a great way to utilize your old system instead of throwing it away. In this guide, we will install and set up services on our 10-year-old laptop to host a WordPress, Joomla, or custom HTML or PHP-based website with a free SSL certificate. MAKEUSEOF VIDEO OF THE DAY Things You Will Need to Host a Website Following are the pre-requisites to host a website for free from home with just your computer: An old laptop or PC running Ubuntu Server. A registered domain name for your website Ethernet cable to connect the laptop or PC to router for reliable and fast connection Step 1: Update and Upgrade the Packages After installing Ubuntu Server on your computer , execute the following c...

We Bring You Brief Series of Sanctions Against Uganda Government Officials.

📸: Gen Abel Kandiho. On 9-December-2021, USA slapped sanctions against the then CMI Commander Gen Abel Kandiho. 📸: Gen Kale Kayihura. On 9-December-2022, UK slapped sanctions against former Police Boss Gen Kale Kayihura. 📸: Commissioner General of Prisons, Johnson Byabashaija. Again on this 4-December-2023, the same USA has slapped sanctions against Uganda Prisons Commander Johnson Byabashaija over alleged torture and human rights abuses in Prisons across Uganda. We ask, has USA and UK made December as an LCM to slap sanctions against high ranking government officials in Uganda even when the sanctions just remain on paper without deeper investigations to ascertain logical conclusions or remedy to that effect ?. #iip_updates #Information_is_Power #we_inform_the_uninformed

UGANDA ELECTORAL COMMISSION TO ELIMINATE NATIONAL IDENTIFICATION CARDS (IDs) FOR 2021 GENERAL ELECTIONS.

The elimination of using National IDs (Ndagamuntu) for the 2021 elections should not have come as a surprise. One would be very NAIVE to think that Bobi Wine has not prepared for this in his Business Plan under the RISK section. It is public knowledge that our EC is not independent. It is also public knowledge that Military Dictator Yoweri Museveni will never lose an election. What stunned us this morning is when we noticed that on social media, people were mocking Bobi with his "get your Ndagamuntu". We are on record for saying to all Our readers that the National ID is like Apartheid in South Africa. Students of History would know how those IDs were being used to arrest people, deny them jobs, deny them basic services. Consequently, Bobi was not wrong and will never be wrong on the Ndagamuntu. Except the ones attacking him and mocking him forget that in Uganda, now, no National ID (Ndagamuntu), no service. If you have not been denied registering your child i...

Osuta Yusuf

Search This Blog