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Kane Gamble, a British teenager who targeted CIA director John Brennan and other senior US officials through impersonation and social engineering, was sentenced to two years in youth detention at the Old Bailey on 20 April 2018. He was 18 at sentencing and 15 and 16 during the campaign, which ran for about eight months.
Who was Kane Gamble?
Gamble was a British teenager who, with associates, carried out a campaign of unauthorised access against accounts belonging to senior US intelligence officials, government employees and members of their families. Contemporary reporting described him as 15 and 16 during the attacks; the court records that he was 18 when sentenced.
How did the campaign work?
The court described the group’s approach as impersonation and social engineering: manipulating people, including call-centre or help-desk staff, into disclosing confidential information or taking actions that enabled account access. In the effort against CIA director John Brennan, Gamble impersonated Verizon employees and Brennan himself to obtain account information, then used account-recovery and password-reset routes to access Brennan’s AOL account. The court’s account therefore emphasizes deception and misuse of recovery processes, rather than describing the case solely as a technical intrusion.
The campaign also involved Brennan’s wife and other officials and their families. ITV named FBI deputy director Mark Giuliano and Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson among the targets. The Independent reported a hoax police call involving senior science adviser John Holdren and a message displayed on Johnson’s family television.
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What charges did Gamble admit?
Gamble pleaded guilty to ten offences under the UK Computer Misuse Act 1990: eight under section 1(1) and two under section 3(1). The court records guilty pleas to six section 1(1) counts and two section 3(1) counts on 8 September 2017, followed by pleas to two replacement section 1(1) counts on 6 October 2017.
The Crown offered no evidence on a separate section 3ZA count alleging national-security damage. Gamble was not convicted of that count.
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When did the case happen?
- 1 June 2015: The start date given in the sentencing remarks for the campaign.
- 9 February 2016: Gamble’s arrest, ending the period described by the court.
- 8 September 2017: Guilty pleas to six section 1(1) and two section 3(1) offences.
- 6 October 2017: Guilty pleas to two replacement section 1(1) counts.
- 20 April 2018: Sentencing at the Old Bailey.
What sentence did he receive?
At age 18, Gamble received two years in youth detention. Although headlines sometimes describe the outcome as a prison sentence, the court’s stated sentence was youth detention, not an adult prison term. Sentencing judge Mr Justice Haddon-Cave called the campaign “an extremely nasty campaign of politically motivated cyber terrorism.”
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Sources
- Crown Court sentencing remarks, R v Kane Gamble, judgment dated 25 April 2018.
- ITV News report, 20 April 2018.
- The Independent report, 22 April 2018.
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