Nebraska Man to Plead Guilty in Scientology Site Hack
USA Today
USA Today
Federal prosecutors in California say a Nebraska man will plead guilty to participating in a cyber attack on Church of Scientology websites in January 2008.
Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles, says Brian Thomas Mettenbrink agreed to plead guilty Monday to the misdemeanor charge of unauthorized access of a protected computer. He faces a year in federal prison.
Court records say Mettenbrink attacked Scientology websites as part of Anonymous, an underground group that protests the Church of Scientology, accusing it of Internet censorship.
Prosecutors say hackers conducted a "denial of service" attack, in which computers flood a target website with malicious Internet traffic, making it unavailable to legitimate users.
Prosecutors say Mettenbrink, of Grand Island, Nebraska, is expected to enter his plea next week in Los Angeles, where the Church of Scientology is based.
Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles, says Brian Thomas Mettenbrink agreed to plead guilty Monday to the misdemeanor charge of unauthorized access of a protected computer. He faces a year in federal prison.
Court records say Mettenbrink attacked Scientology websites as part of Anonymous, an underground group that protests the Church of Scientology, accusing it of Internet censorship.
Prosecutors say hackers conducted a "denial of service" attack, in which computers flood a target website with malicious Internet traffic, making it unavailable to legitimate users.
Prosecutors say Mettenbrink, of Grand Island, Nebraska, is expected to enter his plea next week in Los Angeles, where the Church of Scientology is based.
