The hacker accused of breaking into T-Mobile USA Inc.’s computer systems and accessing customer information has pleaded guilty. Nicholas Lee Jacobsen, 22, pled guilty in U.S. district court in Los Angeles to “gaining unauthorized access to a protected computer and recklessly causing at least $5,000 in loss to one or more victims, including T-Mobile Inc., a telecommunications company.”
Jacobsen was arrested in October. He faces a maximum possible sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. His sentencing is set for May 16.
Jacobsen broke into T-Mobile’s network in 2003 and stole the names and social-security numbers of about 400 T-Mobile subscribers, the carrier said. The hacker also was able to access information stored on subscribers’ T-Mobile Sidekick devices, according to reports on the incident.
The issue is especially interesting because the alleged hacker was able to access information in a Sidekick owned by a Secret Service agent who coincidentally was investigating the break-in on T-Mobile’s computers.
According to reports, Jacobsen allegedly hacked into T-Mobile’s computers and offered to sell subscriber information, such as names, social-security numbers, voicemail passwords, dates of birth and Subscriber Identity Module card numbers, over the Internet. Jacobsen also was reportedly able to access Sidekick users’ e-mails, documents and even digital pictures, a break likely due to the design of the T-Mobile Sidekick. The Sidekick operates under a client-server architecture, where many of the applications for the device are actually stored in T-Mobile’s network. Such a design allows a device with limited processing power to run sophisticated programs like e-mail clients and games.
T-Mobile said last month that Jacobsen was not able to access customer credit-card information.
According to a report from the Associated Press, the Secret Service said its agent should not have been using his Sidekick for government work. The agent, however, said his superiors sent e-mails and other documents to his Sidekick for him to review while he was traveling. The agent said his superiors knew the device was not part of the Secret Service’s system.
