Nine Years In The Slammer For Wi-Fi Hacker

Wi-Fi hacking is becoming increasingly ubiquitous, so much so that the courts are starting to hand down big-time penalties. Just consider the latest -- a federal appeals court has upheld a nine-year sentence for someone who hacked into a Lowe's wireless network. Wired News reports that that Brian Salcedo was arrested in 2003 for breaking into an unsecured Lowe's Wi-Fi network in suburban Detroit. Along with a sidekick, he was able to hack from that network into Lowe's central headquarter's network, and from there to networks at Lowe's stores around the country.

Salcedo tried to steal credit cards, but to a certain extent, he's the hacker who couldn't hack straight. He was able to store only six credit card numbers on a special spot on the network, and before he was able to use them, he was arrested.

The FBI got to him fast, and as part of a plea bargain, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy and computer fraud.

He's been in jail since 2003, and a federal court has just upheld the nine-year sentence he was given.

Some have complained that he shouldn't get such a harsh sentence, because he never even used a single credit card. But they miss the point. Just because he was not overly competent doesn't mean he doesn't deserve punishment.