Undersell a sentence

The odds of getting caught while firing off denial of service attacks against corporate servers may be low, but don’t let that fool you into thinking that the act is any less criminal. Romanian citizen Calin Mateias found that lesson out the hard way when a judge issued a one year prison sentence and $30,000 in damages after the man was found guilty of attacking the World of Warcraft servers. The distributed denial of service attacks lasted from February to September 2010 and were primarily motivated out of a “juvenile desire” to beat his rivals. Yes, a 37 year old man will be spending a year in prison because he so desperately wanted to beat people in World of Warcraft that he committed a criminal act. Mateias was also required to foot Blizzard’s costs in preventing his attacks at the time, which ran close to thirty thousand dollars. In case that doesn’t paint enough of a picture, Mateias used the online handle “Dr. Mengele,” after the … [Read more...] about Denial of Service: US Judge Sentences Warcraft DDoS Attacker To Prison

Overwatch is in the news today with a pair of interesting stories. In one, a South Korean hacker was sentenced to a year in prison and two years probation for a cheating program that "violates the country's Game Industry Promotion Law". In the other, Blizzard has received an approved patent for a Play of the Game system after originally filing for it in 2016. The South Korean player is the first to receive a prison sentence after the country enacted strict anti-cheating laws that came on the books late in 2017. The convicted man reportedly made $180,000 through sales of his cheating program. Prior to his sentencing, others charged with violating the new policies had been fined or given probation.  A Play of the Game System is now officially patented in Blizzard's name after a 2-year wait. "The game server then selects a play of the game category and determines the top aggregated score for that category. Once determined, the game server sends one or more instructions to the game … [Read more...] about Korean Hacker Sentenced to a Year in Prison + Blizzard Patents Replay System

Way back in January, Blizzard Korea announced that it was working with Korea’s National Policy Agency cyber crime unit to track and arrest the perpetrators of Overwatch hacking and cheating crimes, following an investigation that lasted throughout most of 2017. Thirteen individuals were identified, and then the courts moved in. In May, one hacker received a suspended sentence, while another was fined $10,000. A third, Dot Esports reports this week, has now been sentenced: He’ll sit in prison for a whole year, apparently being more harshly punished due to his having made a truckton of money off his hack program. In happier news, Blizzard released a brief teaser for what’s probably the game’s next hero, if player speculation holds. Seriously, people think the wrecking ball is actually the hero. And that’s not even peak 2018. This is: Back in 2016, Blizzard began trying to patent the algorithm that determines Overwatch’s plays of the game. Source: Dot … [Read more...] about Overwatch: Another hacker sentenced, a new hero teased, and an algorithm patent sought

Los Angeles resident and soon-to-be long term prisoner Tyler Barriss has entered into a plea deal in federal court in Kansas and is facing a sentence of at least twenty years. Barriss previously pled guilty to his role in orchestrating a swatting incident which resulted in the death of a Wichita man at the hands of local police officers. In addition to this charge, Barriss also pled guilty to a hoax bomb threat in the District of Columbia and 46 counts of making false bomb threats against high schools, universities, shopping malls, and TV stations in more than a dozen states. Nobody was injured in those other cases. In the Wichita case, authorities are still pressing charges against Casey Viner and Shane Gaskill, two co-defendants whose feud over Call of Duty led to Viner requesting the swatting hoax from Barriss with Gaskill providing the fake address. Sentencing is set for January 30. Barriss is 25, meaning he will be close to if not over 50 by the time his sentence has been fully … [Read more...] about Tyler Barriss Convicted, Could Be Sentenced to 20+ Years

Californian Tyler Barriss has been officially sentenced to 20 years in prison for making fraudulent 911 calls, including one that lead to the shooting death of 28 year old Wichita resident Andrew Thomas Finch. Barriss, 26, was arrested following his admission of placing a phone call alerting authorities to a hostage situation in Wichita, Kansas. When police arrived, the ordeal ended with one officer shooting the aforementioned Andrew Finch. The call was a hoax, sent in by Barriss on the belief that the address belonged to another person. According to admissions by parties involved, Barriss was tasked with calling in the fake hostage situation by another individual who had lost a bet over Call of Duty. The total wager that cost Mr. Finch his life; Approximately $2. Federal authorities are also pressing charges against Casey Viner and Shane Gaskill, the two individuals responsible for requesting the swat call and providing the fake address to Barriss. In December, Barriss entered a plea … [Read more...] about Tyler Barriss Officially Sentenced to 20 Years In Prison