A "notorious" Nintendo hacker who began targeting the gaming company while still a minor is continuing his exploits. The hacker, named Ryan Hernandez, who lives in California, has now been convicted of computer fraud and receiving child pornography after the FBI discovered illegal images during an investigation into Nintendo.
As part of his plea agreement, Hernandez will pay a $259,323 restitution fine to Nintendo and serve three years in prison. The final sentence will be confirmed by the court when he is sentenced in April.
Hernandez was originally caught hacking Nintendo in 2016. While still a minor, he and an accomplice phished a Nintendo employee in order to obtain the credentials needed to steal the company's files. "This stolen information, including pre-release information about the upcoming Nintendo Switch console, was leaked to the public."
Given his age, the FBI let Hernandez out of jail with a warning, but spoke with the suspect and his parents. He promised to stop any further malicious activity and confirmed that he understood the consequences of any future hacking.
But these “malicious activities” began again in 2018, when Hernandez hacked into multiple Nintendo servers to steal more confidential files about the company’s consoles and games . According to the DOJ, Hernandez bragged about his exploits online and also created a chat forum, Ryan’s Underground Hangout, to share information with others about Nintendo’s vulnerabilities and the data he had stolen
Last June, FBI agents raided Hernandez's home and seized several digital devices, finding "thousands of confidential Nintendo files." The agents also discovered that he "used the internet to download more than a thousand videos and images of minors in sexual acts and stored them in a folder called 'Bad Stuff.'"
The DOJ notes that computer fraud and possession of child pornography carry maximum prison sentences of five and 20 years, respectively, so Hernandez doesn't seem to be getting away with it as easily as he has in the past.
