By Andrew Grossman
Federal prosecutors announced a criminal charge against a
20-year-old Tennessee man allegedly associated with a group of
activist hackers that targeted companies and universities,
including Bell Canada and the University of Virginia.
Timothy French allegedly conspired with a computer hacking group
called NullCrew to breach servers at Bell Canada, taking 12,000
customer usernames and passwords and posting them online.
Mr. French was also allegedly involved in the theft of emails,
usernames and passwords from the University of Virginia and data
broker Spokeo in April, according to a complaint filed in federal
court in Chicago in early June and Twitter messages posted by
NullCrew. The charges were unsealed last week.
Mr. French is charged with conspiring to hack into a protected
computer and cause damage.
Like LulzSec and Anonymous, two antiestablishment "hacktivist"
groups previously targeted by federal law enforcement, NullCrew
generally carried out hacks to embarrass and weaken its targets,
not to make money. NullCrew said in public postings that it
targeted universities, governments and other institutions
associated with "the system."
The apprehension of Mr. French at his home last week is the
first arrest of a member of the group, which has taken credit for a
broad array of attacks, including breaches of the U.K.'s Ministry
of Defense and other government agencies.
Prosecutors didn't name the targets of the group's alleged
hacks, but they're identified by name on a Twitter account that
they say the group controlled. A lawyer who represented Mr. French
during a court proceeding in Greeneville, Tenn., declined to
comment on the charge.
Mr. French faces a potential sentence of up to 10 years in
prison and a $250,000 fine.
Write to Andrew Grossman at andrew.grossman@wsj.com
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