By John Leyden for The Register. This story has
been reproduced with permission.
Nicholas Tombros, 40, was sentenced to three years' probation
and six months' home detention after he was convicted of emailing
out thousands of advertisements for pornographic websites. The spam
emails were sent from Tombros's laptop using unsecured, unencrypted
wireless internet access points he discovered while driving around
in his car.
Tombros was, however, ordered to pay a $10,000 fine over his
wrongdoing as part of a plea-bargaining agreement. Tombros was
charged in August 2004. At the time, the US Attorney's office
suggested Tombros might face up to three years imprisonment if
convicted. It's unclear why the case took so long to be
resolved.
Tombros can consider himself more than fortunate to have escaped
a tougher punishment, especially in comparison with other recent
prosecutions for similar offences.
For example, Singapore teenager Garyl Tan Jia Luo was given 18 months probation and an internet ban simply
from hopping on his neighbour's internet connection without
permission, while a Michigan man who parked outside a local Wi-Fi
cafe every day to check his email has been fined $400 and sentenced to 40 hours' community service. Sam
Peterson's actions would have been perfectly lawful if he'd simply
stepped inside the cafe to buy a coffee while he surfed the
net.
"While the US authorities did a fine job in apprehending
Tombros, the outcome of this case is hardly likely to send
shockwaves through the spamming world. After an inexplicably long
waiting period, probation and a stint of home detention simply
won't be enough to convince cybercriminals, many of whom are
currently raking in the cash, to throw in the towel," said Graham
Cluley, senior technology consultant at net security firm
Sophos.
Cluley added that the case illustrated the need for businesses
and home users alike to properly secure their wireless internet
access against exploitation.
© The
Register 2007
