UK National Lottery hackers jailed

Two English hackers, Daniel Thompson, 28, and Idris Akinwunmi, 21, have been jailed for eight months and four months respectively for their part in an online attack on the UK National Lottery website two years ago (see previous report).

Thompson pled guilty to three cybercrime offences, while Akinwunmi, admitted a hacking offence and fraudulently transferring just GBP 13 to his personal account.

The duo appeared before Judge Kristina Montgomery QC at the Birmingham Crown Court this week, where evidence was led that lottery operator Camelot had spent at least GBP 200,000 investigating, and tightening up security after the incident, while 254 compromised National Lottery player accounts had to be closed.

The court heard evidence that the two men were part of a cyber-attack that involved “thousands” of hackers, using the Sentry MBA hacking program.

National Crime Agency (NCA) officers traced the activity to the home Thompson shares with his mother in Newcastle.

A version of the programme on his computer had been used to hack sites and accounts more than 400 times, including the National Lottery, Tesco.com, Points to Shop, and Mindspay, the court heard.

Akinwunmi perfected his hacking skills after watching hacking tutorials on YouTube, using details provided by another hacker to access a user’s account. He then “shared the methodology” with others and was traced after using a computer at Aston University, where he was a student.

Judge Montgomery said the two men were part of a hacking culture, which undermined public trust in online security.