Swedish Hacker Indicted for Computer Break-Ins
A 21-year-old Swedish man named Philip Gabriel Pettersson, aka Stakkato, has been indicted by a federal grand jury in the Northern District of California on three counts of illegal intrusion and two counts of trade-secret theft, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday.
The indictment alleges that on two occasions, Pettersson unlawfully gained access to computers at the Ames Research Center and the NASA Advanced Supercomputing Division at Moffett Field, Calif. It also asserts that the defendant broke into the network of Cisco Systems of San Jose, Calif., and stole some Cisco Internetwork Operating System code.
Reports vary on what precisely Pettersson stole from Cisco, but according to the DOJ statement, the company does “not believe that any customer information, partner information, or financial systems were affected.”
If convicted, Pettersson could face up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine up to $250,000 on each charge. The prosecution is being handled by the DOJ’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section. Officials were unavailable for comment.
Whereabouts Unknown
It’s not clear, however, whether Stakkato will ever face a jury in the United States. Sweden rarely permits the extradition of its citizens to face foreign criminal charges, so Pettersson could avoid prosecution as long as he stays in his home country.
If he leaves Sweden, however, then U.S. authorities could arrest him and transport him to California for trial. Another possibility, although somewhat less likely, is that the U.S. charges could be used as the basis for a prosecution of Pettersson in the Swedish courts. The DOJ said “it will continue to work cooperatively with the Swedish authorities on the case.”
This isn’t Stakkato’s first run-in with the law. Two years ago, he was convicted and fined $25,000 for invading the computer networks of three Swedish universities.
Cyber Headaches
The Stakkato intrusions are merely one…
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