Hacker Sent Viagra to Bill Gates: Welsh Teenager's Whimsical Sentencing

  • Thread starter Thread starter The_Professional
  • Start date Start date
AI Thread Summary
In January 1999, Welsh teenager Raphael Gray conducted a hacking spree targeting e-commerce sites to highlight the vulnerabilities of online shopping. Over four weeks, he accessed at least 23,000 credit card numbers, including one belonging to Bill Gates, which he humorously used to send Viagra to Gates' residence. At his sentencing, Judge Gareth Davies acknowledged Gray's humor in the act. Following his court appearance, Gray expressed a willingness to repeat his actions legally. Psychiatric evaluations indicated that Gray struggled with social interactions and developed an obsession with computers after a personal incident. Law enforcement eventually tracked him down using server logs from a failed hacking attempt.
The_Professional
Messages
428
Reaction score
1
Cracker sent Viagra to...

http://wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,45057,00.html?tw=wn_story_related
:smile:
Raphael Gray, a Welsh teenager, said that he was on a mission to prove the dangers of shopping over the Internet. To demonstrate his point, in January 1999, Gray embarked on a four-week crack attack on e-commerce sites to see how many systems he could hack into.

During his month-long crusade, Gray managed to collect at least 23,000 credit card numbers, including one belonging to Bill Gates, which Gray said he used to send a shipment of the impotence-curing drug Viagra to Gates' home.

The teenager was commended in court for his whimsy in sending the drug to Gates.

"You demonstrated some sense of humor by sending Viagra to Bill Gates to mock him," said Judge Gareth Davies, at Gray's sentencing hearing in the Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court in southern Wales.

After his sentencing Gray, 19, told reporters outside the courthouse that he would "do it all again, given the chance," but would act within the law next time.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Computer science news on Phys.org
I guess if Gates goes on Viagra we can't call it "micro""soft" anymore. :smile:
 
macro hard!
 
no, why change micro :p
 
According to psychiatric assessments ordered by the court, after the accident Gray had a difficult time relating to people and became obsessed with computers.

hahaha that sounds all to familiar these days.
 
HAHAHAHA
The police can't hack their way out of a paper bag
 
But the program failed to crash a server on at least one occasion, and the FBI and Royal Canadian Mounted Police used that server's logs to track Gray to the small cottage he lives in with his mother and two sisters in Clynderwen, in western Wales, in March 2000.


hahaha and he lives with his mom
 
Back
Top