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'Kayla' and two other UK LulzSec hackers plead guilty to attacks on Sony, the CIA, and more

'Kayla' and two other UK LulzSec hackers plead guilty to attacks on Sony, the CIA, and more

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Three members of hacking group LulzSec have pleaded guilty to a series of hacks or DDoS attacks in 2011, including prominent hacker "Kayla." LulzSec, loosely affiliated with the Anonymous banner, was eviscerated last year after member Hector Xavier Monsegur was revealed to be working undercover with the FBI. Since then, several members have submitted pleas in both the US and UK. Now, The Guardian reports that three British hackers have admitted to attacking multiple websites and are now awaiting sentence in mid-May.

Of the three, the best-known is likely Ryan Ackroyd, a 26-year-old who took on the name "Kayla" and the persona of a 16-year-old girl. "Kayla" rose to fame after a 2011 hack of security firm HBGary Federal, where she was credited with posing as the company's CEO to get account details from its IT department. Ackroyd previously denied hacking charges against him, but he's now changed course and pleaded guilty to attacks on 20th Century Fox and others.

The three will be sentenced in mid-May

20-year-old Jake Davis and 18-year-old Mustafa "Tflow" Al-Bassam, meanwhile, confessed to temporarily bringing down the CIA's website with a DDoS attack and attempting to break into computers owned by Fox, Sony, and Britain's National Health Service. Two Americans have previously filed plea agreements over a 2011 Sony hack that's believed to have compromised thousands of usernames and passwords.

No estimate was given of the sentences Ackroyd, Davis, and Al-Bassam are expected to receive, but they'll likely be reduced as part of a plea bargain. Davis entered a previous guilty plea last year, along with Ryan Cleary, another LulzSec member who will be sentenced in May. Across the Atlantic, LulzSec member Jeremy Hammond remains in jail, awaiting a verdict on his alleged role in a massive hack of security company Stratfor in 2011.