Jail for hacking Facebook account

Gareth Crosskey, aged 21 of Lancing, West Sussex was jailed last week at Southwark Crown Court for 12 months after hacking into a private Facebook account.

Crosskey was sentenced following an investigation by officers from the Metropolitan Police Service’s Police Central e-Crime Unit.

He had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to offences under the Computer Misuse Act.

In January 2011, Crosskey gained unauthorised access to the Facebook account of an individual, including the private email facility.

The breach was reported to the FBI who traced the source of the unauthorised access to the UK.

The matter was passed to the MPS’ Crime Unit who traced the suspect.

Comprehensive prevention advice can be found at www.getsafeonline.org.

BGP can also provide computer and social media security advice.