The British hacker who cracked the computers of US spy chiefs, aged 15
A 15-YEAR-OLD boy hacked into the computers of America’s most powerful spy chiefs including the director of the CIA and the deputy director of the FBI from his Leicestershire home.
A court has heard that Kane Gamble, who is now 18 and can be named for the first time, also targeted the US secretary of homeland security and Barack Obama’s director of national intelligence from a semi detached council house in Coalville.
The fact that he was 15 when he began his hacking attacks means that the US authorities did not attempt to extradite him, it is understood.
He spent more than eight months targeting some of America’s most senior officials before he was arrested by police from the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit in February 2016.
Gamble, who turned 18 earlier this week, meaning a court order banning naming him could be lifted, was living at home with his family at the time.
He pleaded guilty to eight charges of “performing a function with intent to secure unauthorised access” to the computers and two charges of “unauthorised modification of computer material” at Leicester Crown Court, but the details of the case were not opened.
At the time of the offences, information obtained from John Brennan, then director of the CIA, was posted online by a person using the alias Cracka, a member of a group of teenager hackers called “Crackas With Attitude”.
The social media profiles of the group have been deleted, but they had dedicated their attacks to the #Freepalestine movement, claiming that they would stop their hacks if the US government cut its ties with Israel.
Mr Brennan’s was the first high profile attack, with documents purporting to be from his AOL email account later posted on Wikileaks. Two weeks later, Cracka posted more than 3,500 names, email addresses and contact numbers of US law enforcement and military personnel said to have been obtained from the personal email of Mark Giuliano, then FBI deputy director.
Cracka taunted officials, claiming to have accessed the internet provider of Jeh Johnson, the secretary of homeland security, and listened to his voicemails. Gamble, said by his barrister to be “on the autistic spectrum”, admitted securing unauthorised access to Mr Brennan’s computer between June 1 and Oct 30 2015 and attempting to gain unauthorised access to the computer of the Mr Johnson between July 4 and Oct 22 2015.
On Oct 17 2015, he tried to access the computer of Avril Haines, the White House deputy national security adviser, and between Oct 18 and Christmas Day 2015, Gamble targeted FBI Special Agent Amy Hess.
The teenager admitted attempting to gain access to the computer of Mr Giuliano and trying to hack into an FBI portal.
He also tried to access accounts held by James Clapper, director of national intelligence under President Obama; Vonna Weir Heaton, the former intelligence executive of the US National Geospatial Intelligence Agency; John Holdren, Mr Obama’s senior science and technology adviser; and the US Department of Justice’s network.
Mr Justice Gilbert released Gamble on conditional bail before sentencing later this month, describing it as an “an anxious case which raises difficult issues”.
His barrister pointed out there had been no further offending since his arrest almost two years ago.
A Facebook account believed to be Gamble’s shows little online activity, with his father his only “friend”.
‘Kane Gamble is on the autistic spectrum – this is an anxious case which raises difficult issues’