Hacker Tries To Land IT Job At Marriott Via Extortion 218
wiredmikey writes "A tough global economy has certainly created challenges for many people looking for jobs, but one Hungarian man took things to another level in an effort to gain employment at hotel giant Marriott International. On Wednesday, the 26-year-old man pleaded guilty to charges that he hacked into Marriott computer systems and threatened to reveal confidential company information if Marriott didn't offer him a job. Assuming his efforts were working, with the possibility of a new job with Marriott in his sights, the hacker arrived at Washington Dulles Airport on Jan. 17, 2011, using an airline ticket purchased by Marriott for him. He thought he would be attending a job interview with Marriott personnel. Unbeknown to him, he was actually being 'interviewed' by a Secret Service agent posing as a Marriott employee."
Re:Typical (Score:5, Informative)
Willing risk taker (Score:5, Informative)
He went to a country where he knew he had broken the law. He had to know that arrest and prosecution was one of the possible outcomes.
He gambled. He lost.
Re:Secret Service (Score:5, Informative)
The USSS is also the anti-fraud agency, including computer and phone fraud, probably because it heavily related to financial crimes. In 2009 there was an expansion of that as well.
So when it comes to fraud/extortion type things, particularly as they relate to computers, the USSS is probably the agency that handles it.
Re:2nd time an FBI article go "Varnish cache serve (Score:5, Informative)
There are no labour camps in Hungary (Score:5, Informative)
In Hungary, they send their unemployed to hard labor camps to get any government assist.
I believe the proposed legislation says that after six months of being on unemployment benefit, you must do 4 hours of public service a day to continue to receive said benefit. Hungary is a member of the European Union, there are no forced labour camps or any such Stalinist nonsense (which doesn't mean there isn't massive corruption etc., but that's another issue). Next time please inform yourself before posting idiotic shit.
Re:Typical (Score:5, Informative)
This isn't entrapment.
He wasn't lured into comitting the crime. He was lured into getting himself arrested.
Re:Typical (Score:5, Informative)
So while having the offended party (Marriott in this case) pay for his ticket to fly over might be considered entrapment in a number of jurisdictions, it's perfectly legal in the US.
Entrapment in the US law sense happens when someone persuades you to commit a crime that otherwise you wouldn't have committed. US authorities are not allowed to do that, and it is a decent defense if you can show that some US authoritiy did this. It's not a defense if a private company does it.
But that didn't happen here. The crime was already in progress (the hacking had happened, and the extortion was in progress), so even if the US police had concocted this plan, it would have been absolutely fair game to find and catch a criminal.
Re:Secret Service (Score:4, Informative)
The SS was the anti-counterfeit department of the treasury long before "protecting the president" became its job.
Re:Your assessment is quite incorrect, actually (Score:4, Informative)
That might be true in theory, but in practice it depends on the opinions of the country where the hacker is located.
If they tell you to shove your extradition request up your ass sideways, it's irrelevant. A pity more countries don't, given the near impossibility of making US citizens face justice once they've fled back home.