Hacker targeting FBI, CIA officials sentenced to 5 years imprisonment

A hacker behind a series of embarrassing hacks that targeted senior officials at the FBI, the CIA, and the White House among other U. S. federal agencies in 2015, has been sentenced to five years in prison.

Justin Liverman, who was known under the online alias "D3F4ULT," was a member of a hacking group dubbed "Crackas With Attitude" that exposed the private online accounts of several top U.S. law enforcement officials, including former CIA Director John Brennan, former FBI Deputy Director Mark Giuliano, and James Clapper, the former director of U.S. national intelligence at the time.

He was sentenced to five years in prison on Friday, and will be forced to pay 145,000 U.S. dollars in restitution, local media reported.

Liverman pleaded guilty on Jan. 6 this year to conspiracy to hack U.S. government computers and accounts. According to the plea agreement, "beginning in November 2015, Liverman conspired to attempt to intimidate and harass U.S. officials and their families by gaining unauthorized access to victims' online accounts, among other things."

"Liverman publicly posted online documents and personal information unlawfully obtained from a victim's personal account; sent threatening text messages to the same victim's cellphone; and paid an unlawful 'phonebombing' service to call the victim repeatedly with a threatening message," U.S. prosecutors in the Eastern District Court of Virginia said.

The 25-year-old man was arrested last September along with Andrew Otto Boggs, 23, who allegedly used the handle "INCURSIO." Boggs was sentenced to two years in prison on June 30, 2017.

However, it was a 17-year-old British teenager, known as CRACKA and the leader of the "Crackas With Attitude," who is actually responsible for carrying out the attacks. His prosecution is still ongoing in Britain.

Crackas With Attitude targeted more than 10 U.S. government officials and caused more than 1.5 million U.S. dollars in losses to victims. They also leaked the personal details of 31,000 government agents, belonging to almost 20,000 FBI agents, 9,000 Department of Homeland Security officers, and a number of staffers of the Department of Justice (DOJ).