Posted on June 21, 2018 at 5:22 PM
‘Bitcoin Baron’ Sentenced to 20 Months in Prison for DDoS Attacks
A man from Arizona by the name of Randall Charles Tucker, or ‘Bitcoin Baron’ as he likes to call himself, has been sent to prison for 20 months after he was discovered to be the person responsible for using DDoS attacks against Madison, Wisconsin’s computer network. Not only that, but he also managed to damage the emergency communications system of the city, which made citizens unable to connect to the 911 center.
Bitcoin Baron caught and sentenced
Randall Charles Tucker, a self-proclaimed hacktivist that goes by the nickname ‘Bitcoin Baron’ has been found guilty of using DDoS attacks against the computer network belonging to the city of Madison, Wisconsin. the Department of Justice claims that one of Tucker’s attacks managed to severely damage, and even completely cripple the emergency communication system of the city. Because of this, the citizens were unable to contact the 911 center, which could have put a lot of lives in danger.
DDoS attacks are a serious form of cyber threat, especially since DDoS protection has yet to be perfected. However, when the cybercriminals decide to target a vital system like this, a lot of damage can be caused – not only to the system but to the people as well.
After he was found guilty, Tucker was sent to prison to serve a sentence lasting 20 months. He admitted that he was responsible for several such attacks that occurred back in 2015 and that the Madison attack is only one of them. According to the Justice Department, Tucker even boasted about successfully launching these attacks on social media, under the nickname ‘Bitcoin Baron’.
This appears to be true, and there is an entire specter of attacks that were believed to be Bitcoin Baron’s doing. Some of the targets of his attacks include websites belonging to the Oklahoma police department, children’s hospital, as well as IRC chat rooms, all of which lack proper DDoS protection.
The Baron falls due to social media
After the Madison attack, the authorities believed that the incident was the work of a hacking group called Anonymous. However, one chat transcript shows that the Bitcoin Baron was actually complaining that the Anonymous are stealing his credit by allowing others to believe that they are responsible.
Tucker eventually went down because of a Twitter beef. The Department of Public Safety of Arizona was investigating the attacks when they managed to stumble upon a number of tweets that were left by other hackers. The hackers claimed that the Bitcoin Baron had no skill, and they even identified him as ‘Randy Tucker’.
Tucker will not only have to serve a prison sentence but will also have to pay up to $69,331 to those who suffered from his attacks. Despite the fact that the penalty for his online crimes is not as high as some expected it to be, it is still a step forward, considering that its very existence is a very notable thing. Especially now, when various cyber attacks have become nothing less than a common occurrence.
DDoS protection still needs a lot of work, but convicting someone who was found guilty of using this type of attacks is definitely a step in the right direction, and it might even discourage others from trying to do the same.
