If found guilty, Matthew Keys could spend up to 25 years in prison

Mar 15, 2013 07:58 GMT  ·  By

The US Justice Department has indicted Matthew Keys, a deputy social media editor at Reuters, for allegedly helping Anonymous hacktivists gain access to a server of the Tribune Company and deface the Los Angeles Times’ website.

Keys has been charged with one count of attempted transmission of information to damage a protected computer, one count of conspiracy to transmit information to damage a protected computer, and one count of transmitting information to damage a protected computer.

According to authorities, until October 2012, Keys was employed by KTLX FOX 40, a Sacramento-based TV station owned by the Tribune Company. Shortly after leaving the company, in December 2010, the 26-year-old allegedly provided Anonymous hackers with the login credentials of a Tribune Company server.

Not only did Keys hand over the username and the password, but he also encouraged Anonymous to disrupt the site, the DOJ says.

According to the indictment, in a conversation he had with the hacker who defaced the website of the LA Times, the journalist offered to get him new login credentials after the Tribune’s IT team thwarted his efforts.

If found guilty, Keys could spend up to 25 years in prison.

“I am fine. I found out the same way most of you did: From Twitter. Tonight I'm going to take a break. Tomorrow, business as usual,” Keys wrote on Twitter after learning of the indictment.

BuzzFeed makes some interesting connections between the deputy social media editor and the hacktivist movement Anonymous.

Back in 2011, Sabu, the then leader of the LulzSec group, said on Twitter: “http://tinyurl.com/ mattkeysexposed AESCracked/Matt Keys was former producer for Tribune sites. Gave full control of LATimes.com to hackers.”

AESCracked was presumably the name utilized by Keys online when chatting with the hacktivists.

In addition, The Atlantic wire reveals that one of the attorneys assigned to the case, Benjamin Wagner, is the same federal prosecutor who handled the case of Hector Xavier Monsegur, aka Sabu.

It’s worth noting that Monsegur has been working with US law enforcement for more than a year now.

In the meantime, Reuters says it’s looking into the issue, but the media giant’s representatives highlight the fact that Keys has been working for them only since January 2012, Politico reports.