Marriott hacker gets 30 months in prison

Attila Nemeth's accommodations for the next 2.5 years won't exactly be like a Marriott. The Hungarian man was convicted on charges that he hacked into the computer system of the giant hospitality chain and threatened company executives that he would leak sensitive data unless they met his demands. And you know what his demands were? All he wanted was a job at Marriott.

Now, we know the job market is tough right now, but let's hold on for a minute. Here's a guy with enough savvy to infiltrate a computer system of a company that brings in $11.7 billion every year, and he can't get a decent job somewhere? It sounds to us like Nemeth has more than enough skill to land something pretty worthwhile. Instead, he'll be behind bars until the second half of 2014, and will live under supervised release for the next three years.

Nemeth was accused of gaining access to the company's internal systems by sending a computer virus to employees. Only one employee needed to open the file for the entire server to be infected. During the investigation, US officials, including a Secret Service agent, posed as Marriott employees and flew Nemeth in for what he thought was a job interview. That face-to-face meeting was enough to seal the deal. According to Marriott, the ordeal cost more than $400,000 in damages to its bottom line.

[via Baltimore Sun]