CFAA: Matthew Keys Convicted In Hack With Anonymous; Edward Snowden Tweets ’40 Minutes,’ ’25 Years’

Matthew Keys, an ex-employee with KTXL Fox 40 in Sacramento, has been convicted under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) on three hacking charges. The actual hacking was purported to have been carried out by members of the “Anonymous” Internet vigilante group. Keys is facing up to 25 years in prison and $750,000 in fines for the controversial CFAA charges: “conspiracy to transmit information to damage a protected computer, transmitting information to damage a protected computer, and attempted transmission of information to damage a protected computer.”

While working with KTXL, Matthew Keys had access to Tribune servers that were shared with the Los Angeles Times, reports the Department of Justice. He is reported to have shared his login credentials in a chat room with members of Anonymous and at least one of group used the information to access Tribune servers and vandalize an L.A. Times post.

Edward Snowden, an ex-National Security Agency employee, who became notorious for leaking thousands of sensitive documents purporting to show wide-scale violations of U.S. law at the agency, as reported by CNN, tweeted with regard to Matthew Key’s conviction.

For defacing an @LATimes article for 40 minutes, journo @MatthewKeysLive faces 25 years. Years. #PrisonPolicy https://t.co/Ae9YszVEiH

— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) October 7, 2015

Snowden is wanted by U.S. authorities and is currently in exile in Russia. Recent reports suggest that he is willing to plea bargain with authorities and willing to serve jail time, if allowed to return to the United States.

After the hacker tied to Anonymous altered the L.A. Times article, Matthew Keys was reported to meet with them in a chat room and comment “nice” when he learned of the hack. L.A. Times staff were able to lock the Anonymous operative out of the Tribune server, which Keys was then alleged to have attempted to help them circumvent.

Matthew Keys’ charges came just months after Aaron Swartz, who was instrumental in the creation of Reddit, took his own life after being convicted under the CFAA. Aaron Swartz was a much-celebrated and successful computer professional, who was convicted of stealing over 4 million documents from JSTOR, a not-for-profit online library. Though JSTOR now lists that individuals may register to read up to 78 articles for free each year, Swartz’s efforts appeared to have revolved in making the entire JSTOR database open for all to access.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nILqr8UlpPM

That Swartz took his own life in response to his conviction has resulted in calls for changes to the CFAA, reports TeleCrunch. President Barack Obama is reported to support stiffer penalties under the CFAA.

Matthew Keys is due back in court on January 16, 2016, where his lawyer, Jay Leiderman, reports that he will appeal the conviction.

“He shouldn’t be doing a day in jail,” Leiderman was quoted by the Los Angeles Times. “With love and respect, [The L.A. Times‘] story was defaced for 40 minutes when someone found it and fixed it in three minutes. What do you want, a year a minute?”

Though Keys could face up to 25 years in prison under the CFAA charges, Lauren Horwood, a spokesperson for the U.S. District Attorney’s office, stated that prosecutors were “likely” to seek five years imprisonment or less.

“I appreciate the support that everyone is sending my way,” Keys was quoted in response to Edward Snowden and other well wishers. “This affects our ability to keep sources confidential. I hope they funnel that outrage and anger into progress.”

The L.A. Times was reported to have spent “more than $5,000” responding to the hack.

“Those who use the Internet to carry out personal vendettas against former employers should know that there are consequences for such conduct,” U.S. attorney Benjamin Wagner was quoted.

Matthew Keys was convicted by a jury. In a post-conviction interview Keys stated that he felt that he was made an example of because of a separate probe in which he refused to cooperate with investigators and that he had published a story citing unnamed sources, which he refused to reveal.

[Feature Screenshot Courtesy Wochit News / YouTube — Matthew Keys Screenshot Courtesy Matthew Keys / Twitter — Edward Snowden Photo by Sean Gallup / Getty Images]