19-Year-Old Sentenced to 20 Months for Selling Stolen Data for BTC

Elliot Gunton, aged 19 and of Mounteney Close in Norwich, pleaded guilty to supplying online personal data and hacking services for cryptocurrency.

A hacker for hire

A press release published on Aug. 16 by the Norfolk police reports that the man was sentenced to 20 months in prison and ordered to pay back more than £400,000 (over $485,000) by the Norwich Crown court. Per the report, the police seized his laptop in April last year after finding the software which allowed him to commit cybercrimes.

The discovery was reportedly made during a routine visit to Gunton’s home due to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order imposed on him by the court in June 2016 for previous offenses. 

Law enforcement reportedly found that he had offered to supply compromised personal data of individuals, which would enable so-called SIM swapping attacks.

The police also allegedly found that he advertised compromised data and blackhat hacking services for $3,000 in Bitcoin (BTC). Police have reportedly been able to track and seize £275,000 ($334,000) worth of cryptocurrency including BTC under his control and uncovered fragments of conversations that he conducted with others online. In a Twitter profile of his, under the handle @Gambler, he said:

“Having lots of money is cool… But having lots of money without people knowing is cooler.”

Limited internet access

He was charged with breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, hacking offenses and money laundering. In addition, the Norwich Crown Court issued him a three and a half year Community Behaviour Order, which states Gunton must not own or use any device capable of accessing the internet other than one readily controllable by law enforcement.

More precisely he is explicitly prohibited from using incognito mode, private browsing or other similar privacy-protecting measures, alongside VPNs or the Tor network.