ASIC theAustralian regulator, has announced that IT consultant Steven Oakes has been sentenced to three years in prison for posing as an ethical hacker and acting undercover. However, he will be released after serving 18 months of his sentence if he demonstrates good behaviour.
The hacker pleaded guilty to 11 charges of insider trading, and to unauthorized access to data with intent to commit a serious offence (trading in confidential information). He is also accused of modifying personal electronic devices required by ASIC.
Steven Oakes hacked into the network of Melbourne-based publisher Port Phillip Publishing (PPP) private computer , monitoring and decrypting Wi-Fi data to obtain the login credentials of PPP staff.
The inside information was used on 70 occasions to buy shares in 52 different companies. He then made millions by selling the shares.
During the ASIC investigation, officers visited Mr Oakes at his home and asked him to immediately hand over certain electronic devices to officers. However, he refused to hand them over. When the devices were eventually analyzed by ASIC digital analysts, they found that Mr Oakes had modified the devices to delete data relevant to the ASIC investigation.
His arrest, however, was now a given and inevitable. The malicious hacker had created a very good cover as an ethical hacker to act underground, but without success.
