Mar 22, 2011 16:48 GMT  ·  By

A hacker was sentenced to over nine years in prison for installing malware on various computers at the medical clinic where he was employed.

Jesse William McGraw, 26, worked as a security guard at the W.B. Carrell Memorial Clinic in Dallas, but in his spare time he was a member of a hacking crew called the Elektronic Tribulation Army (ETA).

In 2009, McGraw, who went by the online alias of "GhostExodus," devised a plan to launch distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks against the notorious Anonymous hacktivist collective.

In preparation for the attacks, which he scheduled for Fourth of July, McGraw infected 14 computers at Carrell Clinic with botnet-type malware.

As it is usual in hacking circles, McGraw bragged about his achievement to other hackers and even went as far as to post YouTube videos of himself installing the malicious software.

In the videos, which have the Mission Impossible theme playing in the background, McGraw wears a hoodie and claims he is infiltrating a corporate office.

Unfortunately for him, news of the incident reached a Mississippi State University security researcher, who immediately notified the authorities.

McGraw was arrested in June 2009 and pleaded guilty to two counts of transmitting a malicious code in May last year.

The prosecution claimed that his actions could have had serious consequences because one of the infected computers was being used to control the Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system.

U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle sentenced McGraw last week to 110 months in prison and ordered him to pay restitution to organizations affected by his actions, including W.B. Carrell Memorial Clinic, the North Central Surgery Center, and the Cirrus Group.

"In reaching this sentence, Judge Boyle cited the need for those who commit computer crimes to understand the potentially devastating consequences of their actions, to promote respect for the law, and to deter others involved in or contemplating hacking," the U.S. Attorney's Office said, according to the Dallas Observer.