Hacker Pleads Guilty of Defacing 11,000 Websites, Could Get up to 20 Years

Billy Ribeiro Anderson, also going by the AlfabetoVirtual and Anderson Albuquerque online handles, pleaded guilty to two counts of "computer fraud for causing damage to a protected computer," each of them with a possible maximum sentence of 10 years.

According to U.S. Attorney’s Office, “Billy Anderson hacked the websites of the New York City Comptroller and West Point, one of the most prestigious military academies in the world."

When it comes to high-value targets, Anderson also pleaded guilty to hacking into and defacing the website of Office of the New York City Comptroller (the NYC Comptroller).

Anderson also claimed involvement into 11,000 other website intrusion and defacement incidents from 2015 through at least March 13, 2018, of various other U.S. military and government sites, as well as business websites all around the world, using the AlfabetoVirtual handle.

The hacker faces two sentences of 10 years for the two counts of computer fraud he pleaded guilty to

"Anderson Albuquerque" managed to compromise and infiltrate the websites with the help of multiple security vulnerabilities in a plugin, subsequently modifying the website contents to display political messages related to the Palestine and Gaza strip conflict with the state of Israel.

In the case of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point website, Anderson altered the content of the site to display the less political "Hacked by AlfabetoVirtual" message.

"ANDERSON, 41, of Torrance, California, pled guilty to two counts of computer fraud for causing damage to a protected computer, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison," said the U.S. Attorney’s Office. "Sentencing before Judge Swain is scheduled for February 13, 2019, at 2:00pm."

The Computer Crime Investigative Unit of the United States Army Criminal Investigation Command and the Brazilian Federal Police Cyber Crime Unit were the ones who helped the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) throughout the investigation which lead to Billy Ribeiro Anderson's apprehension.