He was a super-canary for the feds — exposing and helping thwart more than 300 cyber-attacks on the military, NASA, and other entities — and a judge on Tuesday rewarded the Lower East Side “hacktivist” for his efforts.
Chief Manhattan federal Judge Loretta Preska let Hector Xavier Monsegur off with just seven months in prison, which he has already served, for leading LulzSec, an offshoot of the notorious hacking group Anonymous.
Anonymous cyber-attacked computer systems of Fox TV, Nintendo, PayPal and other businesses, stealing private information and then bragging about it online.
Citing his prolific informant work, Preska said: “You have done as much as any human being could do to make up for past wrongs, and I salute you.”
The 30-year-old hacker — who used the alias “Sabu” — was also sentenced to one year of supervised release that includes a computer-monitoring program.
“I am not the same person you saw here three years ago,” Monsegur said. “I am ready to move on.”
Preska offered him some career advice, saying, “You obviously have great skills. To deploy that skill for good would be a very good thing.”
The reformed hacker had faced 26 years behind bars.
Prosecutor James Pastore said Monsegur provided key information about “vulnerabilities to critical infrastructure,” including a water supply system in a major US city and a “supply chain” of a foreign energy company.
“He averted untold millions of dollars in damages,” Pastore said.
Monsegur provided evidence that helped convict eight Anonymous members worldwide, including US citizen Jeremy Hammond, who at the time of his 2012 arrest, was the FBI’s top cyber-criminal target.
Hammond in November was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his cyberattacks on the intelligence firm Stratfor and others.
Monsegur first started hacking at his Lower East Side apartment in the early 2000s, according to court documents. His aim then was to steal credit-card information and sell or use it to pay his own bills.
He began leading LulzSec in early 2011. When FBI agents showed up at Monsegur’s home in the summer of 2011, he immediately agreed to cooperate, giving agents a crash course on the workings and participants of LulzSec and Anonymous, Pastore said.