Two Years For Stock Hacker

A Malaysian hacker has been given a two year prison sentence for hacking into stock accounts and manipulating them to increase the value of worthless stocks

Between February and December 2006, Thirugnanam Ramanathan led a group of hackers who bought worthless stocks at very low prices, then hacked into stock trading accounts and used them to buy those stocks, artificially inflating their value.

But now he’s been sentenced to two years in prison for his crimes by a US court after pleading guilty to one charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, securities fraud, computer fraud and aggravated identity theft. He’ll also have to pay a $362,247 fine and undergo three years of supervised release, Vnunet reports.

An investigation has identified at least 60 stock traders and nine brokerage houses who were hacking victims over the period, with the brokerages suffering over $300,000 in losses.

Of those who worked with Ramanathan, one is still at large while the other is in prison in Hong Kong awaiting extradition.