Cybercriminal Sentenced To Two Years For Hacking The U.S. Navy And Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Computer Systems

TULSA, Okla. — Daniel Trenton Krueger, one of two leaders of the computer hacking group known as Team Digi7al, was sentenced today to serve twenty-four months in federal prison for hacking the U.S. Navy, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and over 50 public and private computer systems, U.S. Attorney Danny C. Williams Sr. announced.

Krueger, 20, of Dix, Illinois, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge James H. Payne on May 20, and was initially charged in a single-count information on May 5, 2014. At the time of the hacking Krueger was a student. The co-defendant, Nicholas Paul Knight, 27, of Chantilly, Virginia, will be sentenced on November 21, 2014. Knight was an active-duty enlisted member of the Navy aboard the USS Harry S. Truman at the time of the hacking.

“Cybercrime is one of the most serious national security challenges we face as a nation, and it is one of the Department of Justice’s highest priorities,” said U.S. Attorney Williams. “We will vigorously investigate and prosecute cybercrimes. I commend the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service for their quick actions to identify and investigate the computer intrusions.”

According to court documents, in June 2012, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) detected a breach of the U.S. Navy’s Smart Web Move (SWM) database, which stored personal records, including Social Security numbers, names, and dates of birth, for approximately 222,000 service members. The servers that stored these records were located in Tulsa. At the time of the hacking attacks, Knight, Krueger, and other Team Digi7al conspirators posted links to the stolen information on a Team Digi7al Twitter account.

Investigators with the NCIS and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) identified Knight and Krueger as the hackers after a sting operation aboard the USS Harry S. Truman.

Victims of the conspiracy included the following organizations:

• U.S. Navy
• U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
• U.S. Department of Homeland Security
• MobiTv
• Autotrader.com
• Harvard University
• Johns Hopkins University
• Kawasaki
• Library of Congress
• Los Alamos National Laboratory
• Louisville University
• MeTV Network
• Montgomery Police Department (Alabama)
• Peruvian Ambassador’s email (in Bolivia)
• San Jose State University
• Stanford University
• Toronto Police Service (Canada)
• Ultimate Car Page
• University of Alabama
• University of British Columbia (Canada)
• University of Nebraska-Lincoln
• World Health Organization

The case was investigated by the NCIS Atlantic Cyber Operations office in Norfolk, Virginia, with the cooperation and assistance of the DCIS Cyber Field Office, and other federal, state, and local agencies. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joel-lyn A. McCormick on behalf of the United States.