NASA Hacker Pleads Guilty

Jason Allen Diekman, alias "Shadow Knight"
or "Dark Lord," has pled guilty in a California court to hacking
into hundreds of NASA, US government and university computers. He
could face up to 16 years in prison.

Reuters reports that the 20-year-old pled guilty to federal charges
at a closed-door hearing, entering his plea to US District Judge
Dean Pregerson on Monday.

Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the US Attorney's Office in Los Angeles,
said Diekman pled guilty to one misdemeanor count of hacking into a
government computer, one felony count of damaging a computer, and one
felony count of unauthorized use of a credit card, according to
Reuters. He also admitted causing $17,000 in damage to the hacked
computers. Diekman is scheduled for sentencing in February.

Reuters reports that Diekman gained "root level" access to at least
three computer systems at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in
Pasadena, gaining control over all aspects of the computers, such as
the ability to modify files and alter security. He also accessed
computers at Harvard, Stanford, Cornell and the California State
University at Fullerton. In addition, he reportedly stole credit card
numbers and ran up $6,000 in charges.