Republished June 11, 2015 - 5:18 AM
Original Publication Date June 10, 2015 - 10:30 PM
WILMINGTON, Del. - A Canadian member of a hacking ring that gained access to a U.S. Army computer network and targeted Microsoft and several video game developers has been sentenced in Delaware to 18 months in prison.
David Pokora of Mississauga, Ont., who pleaded guilty in September 2014 to conspiracy to commit computer fraud and copyright infringement, is believed to be the first foreign hacker ever convicted of stealing trade secrets in the United States.
Prosecutors said he was part of a small group of gaming enthusiasts that called itself the Xbox Underground that mostly targeted the gaming world, including stealing information from Microsoft and others.
That information allowed the group to build its own Xbox One game system before it was released and to secure pre-release versions of video games, including "Gears of War 3" and "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3."
According to prosecutors, the group stole more than $100 million in intellectual property and other proprietary data.
Pokora, 22, pleaded guilty in September to one count of conspiracy to commit fraud and related activity using a computer. Three Americans in the group have also pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward McAndrew told The News Journal in Delaware that Pokora's sentence "is a message that will be heard around the world."
Note to readers: This is a corrected story. The previous version referred to October in the penultimate paragraph instead of September.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2015