Tuesday, 08. July 2003

Kazakh hacker who threatened Bloomberg jailed

By Gail Appleson NEW YORK

A Kazakh citizen was sentenced on Tuesday to more than four years in prison for hacking into Bloomberg LP's computer system in an attempt to extort $200,000 from the business news service and its founder, Michael Bloomberg, now New York City's mayor.

US District Judge Kimba Wood sentenced Oleg Zezev to one of the longest terms ever given for computer intrusion, federal prosecutors said.

The trial received a great deal of publicity because Bloomberg testified about meeting with Zezev in London in August of 2000 as part of a scheme to catch the defendant. Zezev was arrested at that time.

Zezev also made a surprising escape attempt during the trial as he began heading for the back of the room by jumping onto the backs of courtroom benches.

Zezev planned to use confidential information belonging to Bloomberg and its customers to threaten Michael Bloomberg, telling him that if he did not pay him $200,000 he would disclose this information to customers and the media in an effort to harm his reputation.

Reuters Middle East Times Jul 4 2003 1:32PM ET [moreover Computersecurity]
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