Pennsylvania Man Sentenced to 18 Months in Prison for Hacking into Multiple Computer Networks

WASHINGTON—A Pennsylvania man was sentenced to serve 18 months in prison for his role in a scheme to hack into computer networks and sell access to those networks.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U .S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz of the District of Massachusetts made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Mark Wolf in the District of Massachusetts on December 11, 2013.

Andrew James Miller, 23, of Devon, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and computer fraud on August 26, 2013. According to court documents, from 2008 to 2011, Miller remotely hacked into a variety of computers located in Massachusetts and elsewhere and, in some instances, surreptitiously installed “backdoors” into those computers. These backdoors were designed to provide future administrator-level, or “root,” access to the compromised computers.

Miller obtained login credentials to the compromised computers. He and his co-conspirators then sold access to these backdoors, as well as other login credentials. The access sold by Miller and his co-conspirators allowed unauthorized people to access various commercial, education, and government computer networks. Miller attempted to sell access for $50,000 to two supercomputers at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory in California that were part of the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center.

The case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Senior Trial Attorney Mona Sedky of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Bookbinder of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.