COURT DOC: Malaysian National Sentenced to 10 Years for Hacking into Federal Reserve Bank

Lin Mun Poo, a Malaysian citizen who hacked into the Federal Reserve Bank and various private financial institutions, was sentenced today to 10 years of imprisonment by United States District Judge Dora L. Irizarry. On April 13, 2011, Poo pled guilty to access device fraud in connection with possessing stolen bank card and credit card numbers and admitted that he compromised a computer server belonging to the Federal Reserve Bank and installed a malicious software code onto that server.

Poo traveled to the United States on October 21, 2010, for the purpose of selling stolen credit card and bank card numbers but, unbeknownst to him, the purchaser was an undercover Special Agent of the United States Secret Service. At the time of his arrest, Poo possessed over 122,000 stolen bank card and credit card numbers in his heavily encrypted laptop computer and admitted that he ‘hack[ed] computers for money.’ Poos computer also contained logs of ‘chats,’ or online instant messaging communications, in which he discussed his business of obtaining and selling stolen bank account information to co-conspirators around the world, who would encode that information onto plastic cards for the purpose of making fraudulent ATM withdrawals and credit card purchases. Poos cybercrime activities also extended to the national security sector in 2010, he hacked into the computer system of a Department of Defense contractor that provides systems management services for military transport and other military operations, potentially compromising highly sensitive military logistics information. (Source: U.S. Department of Justice)