[ISN] Blind Hacker Sentenced to 11 Years in Prison

From: InfoSec News <alerts_at_private>
Date: Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:18:00 -0500 (CDT)
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/06/blind_hacker/

By Kevin Poulsen
Threat Level
Wired.com
June 29, 2009 

A legally blind Massachusetts phone hacker was sentenced Friday to over 
11 years in federal prison, following his guilty plea on computer 
intrusion and witness intimidation charges earlier this year.

Matthew Weigman, 19, was sentenced in Dallas by U.S. District Judge 
Barbara M.G. Lynn, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office there. There 
is no parole in the federal system, and little time off for good 
behavior, so the 135 month term will likely keep Weigman behind bars 
until 2018.

Known in the telephone party-line scene as “Li’l Hacker,” Weigman is 
widely considered one of the best phone hackers alive. Relying on an 
ironclad memory and detailed knowledge of the phone system, the teenager 
is known for using social engineering to manipulate phone company 
workers and others into divulging confidential information, and into 
entering commands into computers and telephone switching equipment on 
his behalf.

The FBI had been chasing Weigman since he was 15 years old, at times 
courting him as an informant. He was finally arrested in May of last 
year, less than two months after celebrating his 18th birthday.

[...]


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Received on Mon Jun 29 2009 - 22:18:00 PDT

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