Threat Management, Incident Response, TDR, Threat Management

ETA hacking group member pleads guilty to DDoS against security researcher

Benjamin Earnest Nichols, a 37-year-old man from Oklahoma City, faces a 10-year federal prison sentence for launching a DDoS attack against the website owned by a security researcher.

Nichols pleaded guilty to causing the transmission of a program or code to a protected computer under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). He was a member of the hacker group Electronik Tribulation Army (ETA), according to a statement released by the FBI.

Nichols's DDoS attack against the website mcgrewsecurity.com caused its owner, security researcher Wesley McGrew, $5,000 to $6,500 in damages over the course of a year. In addition to the DDoS attack, Nichols admitted to harassing the researcher by setting up a fake website under McGrew's name and he posted photo-shopped images of McGrew, ordered sex toys to his home, and used an internet relay chat bot to spew profane insults at McGrew.

Nichols has not been sentenced yet and a sentencing date is not scheduled yet.

The hacking group's leader Jesse McGraw, aka GhostExodus, was sentenced to nine years in federal prison for planting malicious code on remote-controlled computers at a medical center.

Get daily email updates

SC Media's daily must-read of the most current and pressing daily news

By clicking the Subscribe button below, you agree to SC Media Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

You can skip this ad in 5 seconds