DerpTrolling hacker sentenced to 27 months behind bars

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

https://siliconangle.com/2019/07/04/derptrolling-hacker-sentenced-27-months-behind-bars/

By Duncan Riley
SiliconANGLE
July 4, 2019

A 23-year-old man who was involved in multiple distributed 
denial-of-service attacks in December 2013 and January 2014 that targeted 
online gaming services has been sentenced to 27 months in prison.

Austin Thompson, known online as DerpTroll, was part of a group known as 
DerpTrolling that attacked and successfully targeted Sony Online 
Entertainment, Valve Inc.’s Steam and Electronic Arts Inc.’s Origin in 
DDoS attacks. The group later claimed to have attacked the PlayStation 
Network, Windows Live and 2k Games Studios in November 2014, although that 
was not in the time period covered in Thompson’s indictment.

Thompson’s downfall was some years in the making. Operating a Twitter 
account for the group, the Utah resident often taunted targets of the 
group, sometimes live-tweeting its activities. Drawing the ire of gaming 
fans, Thompson was doxed or exposed by online vigilantes in January 2014. 
A later post on the DerpTrolling Twitter account at the time, presumably 
from Thompson, said federal agents had shown up at their home but the 
suspects had escaped through a bathroom window.

Little was heard from Thompson again until he was arrested in 2018. 
Thompson pleaded guilty to a charge of “damage to a protected computer” in 
November after agreeing to a plea agreement.

[...]

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