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Hacking Conviction Knocks Man Offline
A Somerville man has been found guilty of orchestrating a series of devastating hacking attacks on Boston Children’s Hospital and the Wayside Youth and Family Support Network.
Martin Gottesfeld, 32, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to damage protected computers and one count of damaging protected computers. U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel Gorton scheduled sentencing for November 14, 2018.
The attacks, which crippled the computer networks of both organizations, were launched in 2014. Gottesfeld, who identified himself as a member of the hacking group Anonymous, demanded change in the way the Boston Children’s Hospital handled a teenage patient who was the subject of a custody battle between her parents and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
The attack on the hospital’s computer network, which directed hostile traffic at 65,000 IP addresses, lasted for at least two weeks and interrupted access to internet services used by staff to treat patients. The attack cost the hospital more than $300,000 and caused an additional estimated $300,000 loss in donations, as the attack disabled the hospital’s fundraising portal.
On March 25, 2014, Gottesfeld conducted a distributed denial of service – or DDOS – attack against the Wayside Youth and Family Support Network, crippling their network for more than a week and causing the facility to spend $18,000 on response and mitigation efforts.
Gottesfeld was arrested in February 2016 after making a distress call from a small boat off the coast of Cuba. He is facing up to 15 years in prison, as well as fines and restitution. U.S. Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Harold Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, made the announcement today.
Key Facts
- State: Massachusetts
- Category: Cybercrime|Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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