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Sony hacker gets year in prison for involvement in 2011 data breach (update)

Sony hacker gets year in prison for involvement in 2011 data breach (update)

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Sony (STOCK)
Sony (STOCK)

Cody Kretsinger, a hacker affiliated with LulzSec, has been sentenced to a yearlong prison term for his involvement in the hacks waged against Sony in 2011. Upon his release, a US District Judge in Los Angeles has also ordered Kretsinger to home detention and 1,000 hours of community service. Kretsinger — known to fellow LulzSec members as "Recursion" — last year pled guilty to breaching the Sony Pictures site through SQL injection and providing personal customer data to LulzSec. Sony estimates damages caused by the hack to be around $600,000. Charges have also been brought against other members of the notorious group.

Throughout its storied history, Sony has suffered few embarrassments that approach the level of the broad 2011 intrusions. Hackers managed to infiltrate numerous online servers (for PlayStation Network, Sony Online Entertainment, and Sony Pictures Entertainment), exposing weak points in the company's security and stealing data belonging to millions of individuals, making it one of the most significant hacks in history. Miraculously there have been no verified instances of identity theft or credit card fraud stemming from the hacks in the years since. Sony ultimately pledged to bolster its security efforts to better safeguard customer data.

Update: This article originally indicated Kretsinger was involved in a different Sony breach. He took part in the hack against Sony Pictures Entertainment in June 2011.