July 16, 2011 12:46 am EDT

WiFi hacker lands 18-year prison sentence, sex offender status for campaign of cyber vengeance

Look, we understand that being accused of pedophilia is horrible but, if you're not keen on spending time in the pokey, it's probably not best to exact your revenge by hacking and framing your accusers for making terrorist threats or downloading child pornography. That was the unfortunate route chosen by Minnesotan Barry Ardolf, whose neighbors Matt and Bethany Kostolnik went to the police after he allegedly kissed their four-year-old son on the lips. Ardolf broke into the couple's Wi-Fi and e-mail accounts, and used them to post porn on MySpace, send threats to Joe Biden, and explicit come-ons to Matt's coworkers. Now the the 46-year-old cyberbully is facing 18 years in prison, a tough sentence for a first time offender sure, but an investigation revealed the Kostolniks were not his first victims. In addition to his lengthy stay in jail Ardolf will also have to register as a sex offender -- an irony were sure isn't lost on him.

[Thanks, Alan]
[Image courtesy Jason Morrison]

WiFi hacker lands 18-year prison sentence, sex offender status for campaign of cyber vengeance originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jul 2011 20:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Wired ||Comments

Original Link: http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/15/wifi-hacker-lands-18-year-prison-sentence-sex-offender-status-f/

View Full Article

Engadget

Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics. Engadget was launched in March of 2004 in partnership with the Weblogs, Inc. Network (WI

More About this Source Visit Engadget