Brit hacker hired by Liberian telco to nobble rival now behind bars

A Surrey man has been jailed for 32 months after admitting to launching distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks against an African telco.
Daniel Kaye, 30, of Egham, told the Blackfriars Crown Court that back in 2016 he took a monthly salary from Liberian company Cellcom to carry out a sustained DDoS against their rival telco Lonestar. According to the National Crime Agency, at its peak Kaye's attack was so heavy that it disabled internet access for most of the country.
Living in Cyprus at the time, Kaye built himself a Mirai botnet pieced together using hijacked Dahua security cameras and infected devices "rented" from other hackers. He then accepted the monthly retainer from Cellcom and proceeded to run the attack in the latter half of 2016.
When the attacks finally subsided, Lonestar said it suffered tens of millions of dollars in lost business and had to directly pay $600,000 to fully ameliorate the effects of the DDoS attack.
That botnet, referred to as "#14" by researchers, was among the largest on the internet, and at one point was said to have accounted for more than half of all Mirai infections on the planet.
Kaye was arrested in February of 2017 and pled guilty last month to counts of creating and using a botnet and possessing criminal property. Between that, he also got a free trip to Germany where he was tried for a separate 2016 DDoS on Deutsche Telekom (he would get a suspended sentence for that one.) Kaye was also said to be tied to DDoS attacks against Lloyd's, Barclays, and Halifax banks in the UK.
Though much of the Mirai #14 botnet Kaye used was said to have been machines rented from other hackers, prosecutors described the 30-year-old as a "highly skilled and capable hacker-for-hire" in announcing the two years and eight months prison term this month.
"Kaye was a talented and sophisticated cyber criminal who created one of the world's largest networks of compromised computers which he then made available to other cyber criminals with no consideration as to the damage it would cause," said Russell Tyner from the UK Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
"The CPS and the NCA together with the authorities in Germany and Cyprus worked closely together in order to bring him to justice."
LoneStar Cell MTN says it has now initiated a lawsuit against Mr. Daniel Kaye
source theregister
Industry: Cyber Security News

Latest Jobs
-
- Cloud Architect- German Speaker
- Hungary
- Upto €48000 per year + bonus + benefits
-
As a Senior Pre-Sales Solutions Architect, you will play a pivotal role in driving our sales success by translating complex technical solutions into compelling proposals that resonate with our clients. You will collaborate closely with our sales teams to understand customer needs, design tailored solutions, and negotiate successful deals. Responsibilities: Solution Design: Develop comprehensive technical solutions that align with customer business objectives and industry best practices. Proposal Development: Create compelling proposals, including requirements gathering questionnaires, presentation materials, and Statements of Work (SOWs). Customer Engagement: Build strong relationships with clients, understanding their technical, business, and commercial requirements. Collaboration: Work closely with sales teams, delivery teams, and third-party partners to ensure successful project execution. Pricing Strategy: Define and deliver pricing strategies that align with customer needs and company objectives. Requirements: Experience in technical pre-sales or sales support roles. Proven track record in designing and delivering successful customer solutions. Strong technical foundation in areas such as VMware, Azure, AWS, cloud computing, and data center technologies. Excellent understanding of sales principles, account management, and negotiation techniques. Ability to explain complex technical concepts clearly and concisely. Experience working in international teams and supporting clients across multiple regions. Fluency in German and English is essential. Benefits: Competitive salary and benefits package Opportunity to work on challenging and rewarding projects Collaborative and supportive work environment Potential for career growth and advancement Please note that this role is focused on supporting German clients, but will also involve global client support as needed.
-
- Director Cyber Security Consulting Medical / Biotech / Biopharma. United Kingdom
- United Kingdom
- Generous salary, uncapped bonus, travel and usual benefits.
-
CH8431 Director Cyber Security Consulting Medical / Biotech / Biopharma. United Kingdom Looking to make Security Partner within 2-3 years? Do you have current experience selling / delivering cyber consulting & advisory services into Medical / Biotech / Biopharma? If so, we would like to speak with you. Apply today for a discreet conversation. This is a UK based opportunity. Current Cyber security consulting experience is essential, as is a network into the Pharmaceutical / Healthcare industry. Package- Generous salary, uncapped bonus, travel and usual benefits. 07884666351 | chris.holt@dclsearch.com
-
- Director Cyber Security Consulting Pharmaceutical / Healthcare. United Kingdom
- United Kingdom
- Generous salary, uncapped bonus, travel and usual benefits.
-
CH8430 Director Cyber Security Consulting Pharmaceutical / Healthcare. United Kingdom Looking to make Security Partner within 2-3 years? Do you have current experience selling / delivering cyber consulting & advisory services into Pharmaceutical / Healthcare? If so, we would like to speak with you. Apply today for a discreet conversation. This is a UK based opportunity. Current Cyber security consulting experience is essential, as is a network into the Pharmaceutical / Healthcare industry. Package- Generous salary, uncapped bonus, travel and usual benefits. 07884666351 | chris.holt@dclsearch.com
-
- Privileged Access Management (PAM) Specialist
- Germany
- upto €700 per day
-
We are looking for a Privileged Access Management (PAM) specialist to help us redesign our customer's administration environment and implement a PAM tool. The project is divided into two phases: a rough concept phase and a detailed concept phase. We need someone with deep knowledge of ITIL V4, product provisioning, automation, and standardization, as well as good knowledge of the cloud environment, Enterprise Vault, requirements documentation, and analysis. We also need someone with strong communication and team skills Ideally you will have experience with CyberArk, we do require someone who is fluent in German for this contract