Sony Ericsson hacker appeals imprisonment

The Hungarian man sentenced to three years in prison for industrial espionage after hacking Ericsson and Sony Ericsson intranets on Tuesday appealed that sentence.

Csaba Richter, 26, hacked into computer systems from his home in a small town north of Budapest from March 2002 until June last year. He has admitted to stealing documents containing information about Ericsson’s and Sony Ericsson’s telecommunications, but said he did not think the information he accessed and downloaded was classified. Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB is a joint venture between Japan's Sony Corp. and Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson of Sweden.

According to the Swedish and Hungarian police investigation; Richter did not work on assignment from anyone else and the material was never distributed to a third party.

"But the infringement posed a potential threat if he had passed on the information," said Peter Olofsson, of Ericsson media relations.

"This case shows that the threat of trespassers is a fact for any company connected to the internet," Olofsson said, declining to comment on measures taken since the Hungarian hack. "This occurrence is, of course, investigated and if there are improvements to be done, we’ll make them. But I cannot get into any details."

Richter’s motive, according to Chief Prosecutor Thomas Lindstrand and the police investigation, was to show Ericsson the bad state of its security, and the hacker’s ultimate goal was to get hired because Ericsson and Sony Ericsson would understand his skills and knowledge.

"Anyone interested in a job here should make contact with the staff department and send their job applications," Olofsson said.

If the Stockholm court of appeal also follows the prison sentence, the next and last instance for another appeal is the Supreme Court of Sweden.