Facebook Hacking Lands New York Student in Jail

A British student, Glenn Mangham, 26, has allegedly stolen valuable information after breaking into the heart of Facebook. The talented hacker had earlier pointed out security loopholes in the Yahoo website and apparently won an appreciation award from the firm for his noble work as ethical hacker.

However, the attempt at infiltrating Facebook's business records has landed the perpetrator in serious trouble with an eight-month jail term announced by the Southwark Crown Court in London. According to BBC, Facebook incurred $200,000 (126,400 pounds) expenses in dealing with Mangham's crime, on a time-consuming and costly endeavour with hired investigations of FBI and British law enforcement agencies to trace the culprit.

Judge Alistair McCreath, branded his actions as "utterly disastrous" for Facebook's prospects. The hacker allegedly deleted the electronic footprint in a bid to cover his track, but Facebook detected the infiltration attempt during a routine system check.

The judge rejected the defendant's claims of being an ethical hacker with no intentions of extortion, as the offence entailed serious consequences for Facebook's intellectual property. "You and others who are tempted to act as you did really must understand how serious this is," he said.

"The creation of that risk, the extent of that risk and the cost of putting it right mean at the end of it all I'm afraid a prison sentence is inevitable," added the judge, according to BBC.