UK hacker sentenced to 26 months for stealing 8 million identities
A 23-year-old hacker in the UK has been sentenced to 26 months in prison after using a Trojan to steal the identities of eight million victims.
Edward Pearson, from York, was able to acquire the data using malware like Zeus and Spyeye, taking information on credit cards, PayPal accounts as well as dates of birth, postcodes and names. Police said he could have gotten away with £834,000 if he had used the stolen data more effectively, yet he only accrued £2,351 illicitly, York paper the Press reported.
Pearson has been jailed for 26 months, whilst girlfriend Cassandra Mennim admitted two counts of obtaining services dishonestly and was given 12 months’ supervision.
