Hacker pleads guilty to accessing, damaging computers
A former Los Alamos National Laboratory computer specialist pleaded guilty Thursday to hacking into and damaging the computers of several high-tech companies, including online auction giant eBay Inc. Jerome T. Heckenkamp, 24, of Los Angeles was indicted by grand juries in Southern and Northern California in connection with the attacks, which took place before he joined the laboratory. The cases were consolidated in San Jose last year. Heckenkamp faces up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and other penalties, for each count. He pleaded guilty to two counts - one from each indictment, the U.S. attorney's office in San Francisco said. He admitted breaking into San Jose-based eBay's computers in February and March 1999, defacing a Web page and installing malicious programs that captured usernames and passwords that he used to gain access to other eBay computers. Heckenkamp also admitted he broke into San Diego-based Qualcomm Inc.'s computers in late 1999 and installing more so-called "Trojan" programs. At the time, he was a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He was arrested in January 2001 and lost his job at Los Alamos. In the plea deal, Heckenkamp agreed the court could consider losses from other companies' computers he was charged with accessing. They include Exodus Communications, Juniper Networks, Lycos, and Cygnus Solutions. One of Heckenkamp's attorneys, Benjamin Coleman, did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment. U.S. District Judge James Ware is scheduled to sentence Heckenkamp on May 10 in San Jose.
Reproduced from an article published by Mercury News
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