Hacker Sentenced to 27 Months for DDoS Attacks on Sony and Steam

A 23-year-old man from Utah has been sentenced to 27 months in prison for a series of DDoS attacks that took down servers for Sony PlayStation Network, Steam, Microsoft Xbox, EA, Riot Games, Nintendo, Quake Live, DOTA2, and League of Legends.

The convicted cybercriminal is known in real life as Austin Thompson, but online he went by the alias DerpTrolling. Thompson became infamous for launching a kind of “flash mob” by attacking gaming services during the Christmas holidays.

Thompson claimed his actions were intended to “make people spend the holidays with their loved ones” and also simply “just for lulz.”

All the cyber incidents involving Austin Thompson occurred in 2013. At that time, the attacks were highly effective, as even major companies often neglected strong DDoS protection.

Thompson used his Twitter account, @DerpTrolling, to announce the start of attacks and even took requests for the next target. His actions caused many gaming services to be unavailable for certain periods, eventually drawing the attention of FBI agents.

According to court documents, the “hacker” will now have to spend just over two years in prison.