Security News > 2020 > September > Russian Sentenced to Prison for Hacking LinkedIn, Dropbox
A Russian national was sentenced to 88 months in prison in the United States for hacking LinkedIn, Dropbox, and Formspring in 2012.
The man, Yevgeniy Aleksandrovich Nikulin, who will turn 33 next month, was charged in 2016 for using stolen employee credentials to access without authorization the systems of LinkedIn, Dropbox and Formspring.
Evidence presented in court revealed that Nikulin managed to hack into the computers of LinkedIn, Dropbox, and Formspring employees, and then install malware to remotely control the machines and steal the employees' login information.
Nikulin's lawyers, Adam Gasner and Valery Nechay, disputed the amount of loss caused by the intrusions and also argued that the hacker had been in custody for a total of 48 months already, asking the court to sentence him to time served.
The hacker was sentenced to 88 months in prison, of which he will serve 85%, or 74.8 months, minus the time already served.