2008 Woodie Awards
Video related to this article is available below.Issue date: 2/29/08 Section: News
Junior pleads guilty in computer-hacking scheme
Goldstein admits he helped cause 2006 SEAS server crash
Emily Babay
Engineering junior Ryan Goldstein admitted in federal court Feb. 29 that he helped hack into a computer network, causing the School of Engineering and Applied Science's server to crash in February 2006.
Goldstein pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting another person to gain unauthorized access to a protected computer, a federal misdemeanor. His trial was scheduled to begin March 10, but he requested a change-of-plea hearing last week.
Goldstein apologized in court for his actions, defense attorney Ronald Levine said.
Goldstein was indicted last November for his involvement in a global-computer hacking scheme. He helped Owen Walker, a New Zealand computer hacker known online as AKILL, carry out attacks by using a fellow Penn student's username and password to access a Penn server.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Levy could not be reached for comment Friday evening.
Friday evening, University spokeswoman Lori Doyle said she could not immediately comment on the case or say whether the plea would affect Goldstein's status as a student.
Staff writer Thomas Himes contributed reporting to this article.
Goldstein pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting another person to gain unauthorized access to a protected computer, a federal misdemeanor. His trial was scheduled to begin March 10, but he requested a change-of-plea hearing last week.
Goldstein apologized in court for his actions, defense attorney Ronald Levine said.
Goldstein was indicted last November for his involvement in a global-computer hacking scheme. He helped Owen Walker, a New Zealand computer hacker known online as AKILL, carry out attacks by using a fellow Penn student's username and password to access a Penn server.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Levy could not be reached for comment Friday evening.
Friday evening, University spokeswoman Lori Doyle said she could not immediately comment on the case or say whether the plea would affect Goldstein's status as a student.
Staff writer Thomas Himes contributed reporting to this article.
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 20
P. Francisco
posted 2/29/08 @ 11:28 PM EST
Surely I can't be the only one who found the placement of the following editor's note just below this story more than a bit ironic:
"Letter from the editor: Due to technical difficulties, our Web site has been down for most of today. (Continued…)
Anonymous
posted 3/01/08 @ 1:37 AM EST
The original charge was a felony... I wonder why it's only a misdemeanor now...
Re: Anonymous
posted 3/01/08 @ 12:36 PM EST
Probably because it was a plea deal. Also interesting is that his lawyer assured us that Mr. Goldstein was innocent of all charges and looked forward to his day in court. (Continued…)
lynx
posted 3/01/08 @ 5:29 PM EST
Digerati got owned.. He was an idoit im suprized he even was originaly charged with a Felony.. Well i guess Narking others out droped it to a Misdemenor. (Continued…)
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