Turkish Hacker Sentenced To 334 Years In Prison

We have heard and read stories of hackers committing crimes and being sent to jail, or in some cases like in the movies, given a second chance by using their skills for good by sniffing out security flaws and loopholes so that companies can close them before any damage is done. However over in Turkey, one hacker has received a sentence of 334 years.

Nope, you read that right, it is not a typo. The 26-year hacker by the name of Onur Kopcak was initially sentenced to 199 years behind bars for creating fake websites that impersonated banks to steal banking details from customers, essentially a phishing scheme. The 199-year sentence was handed down after there were 43 complaints from bank customers, but after another 11 customers came forward, the sentence was extended to a grand total of 334 years.

So is he going to appeal? You would think that he would, right? However, it seems that Kopcak has no plans to do so. Speaking to Today’s Zaman, he said,  “The aimed gain in giving astronomical lengths of prison terms is a mystery. I have never deserved the sentence but I’m not appealing it since I believe that there would be no resolution based on the current laws.”

As TechInsider points out, in 2010 US hacker Albert Gonzales was only sentenced to 20 years in prison after committing what some called the largest thefts of payment card numbers in history.

Tyler Lee
Categories: General
Tags: Hacking, Legal