Raynaldo Rivera is accused of unauthorized access of a computer and conspiracy

Aug 29, 2012 07:59 GMT  ·  By

20-year-old Raynaldo Rivera of Tempe, Arizona, was charged by US authorities on suspicion of participating in the attacks coordinated by the LulzSec collective against Sony Pictures between May and June 2011. After the indictment was unsealed, the suspect turned himself in.

Known on the hacking scene as “neuron”, “wildicv” or “royal”, Rivera is accused of conspiracy and unauthorized access of a protected computer system. He could be convicted to as many as 15 years in prison.

At the time of the attacks, the hackers claimed to have leveraged an SQL Injection vulnerability to gain access to the systems of Sony Pictures Entertainment and steal sensitive information.

Rivera is the second suspect indicted by federal authorities. The first is Cody Kretsinger who has already pleaded guilty and currently awaits sentencing.

In the meantime, the man who ratted them out is still collaborating with the FBI. Sabu should have been sentenced last week, but the decision was postponed for six months to allow him to continue offering his insight in cybercriminal investigations.