MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - In a story Jan. 18 about a New Mexico man pleading guilty in a computer sabotage case, The Associated Press, relying on information from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, reported erroneously that the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office’s website was attacked. It was not, but the main Hennepin County website was attacked.
A corrected version of the story is below:
Guilty plea in hacker-for-hire conspiracy case
A New Mexico accused of paying hackers to sabotage websites affiliated with his former employers and state agencies has pleaded guilty to federal charges in Minnesota
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A New Mexico man accused of paying hackers to sabotage websites affiliated with his former employers and state agencies has pleaded guilty to federal charges in Minnesota.
The plea from John Kelsey Gammell avoids a federal trial on hacking conspiracy charges. The FBI says the case represents a growing form of cybercrime in which professional hackers are paid to inflict damage on individuals, businesses and others who rely on digital devices connected to the web.
The Star Tribune says Gammell admitted in federal court in St. Paul Wednesday to engaging in a campaign of cyberattacks against at least three dozen websites between 2015 and 2017, including those of former employers, banks, Hennepin County and the Minnesota Judicial Branch.
A sentencing date has not been set.
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