WiFi hacker sentenced to prison

From SecurityFocus:

SecurityFocus HOME News: Long prison term for Lowe's wi-fi hacker:

"A 21-year-old Michigan man was sentenced to nine years in federal prison Wednesday in federal court in Charlotte, North Carolina for his role in a failed scheme to steal credit card numbers from the Lowe's chain of home improvement stores by taking advantage of an unsecured wi-fi network at a store in suburban Detroit.

Brian Salcedo faced a possible sentence of 12 to 15 years under federal sentencing guidelines, but at the government's urging federal judge Lacy Thornburgh gave the hacker credit for helping out his former victim following his guilty plea last June, according to the prosecutor on the case.

'He provided assistance to Lowe's,' says assistant U.S. attorney Matthew Martens. 'He met with the corporation to help them understand the vulnerabilities in their system and how they can improve and protect themselves from hackers in the future.'

Salcedo's partner in the caper, 21-year-old Adam Botbyl, has also pleaded guilty, and was sentenced Thursday to 26 months in prison followed by two years of court supervised release. In an interview last August, Botbyl told SecurityFocus he regretted participating in the scheme. 'It's going to take a lot to start to get my reputation back,' he said. 'This has messed up my entire life for at least 10 or 15 years.' ..."