An undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania pleaded guilty in federal court on Friday to assisting in a coordinated attack on the university’s computer network that led to a server crash in 2006.
The student, Ryan Goldstein, had been indicted on a charge of conspiracy to commit computer fraud, but under an agreement with prosecutors pleaded guilty to the less-serious charge of aiding and abetting another computer hacker to break into a computer remotely, Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Mr. Goldstein could get six months in prison for the offense.
The student allegedly used the university’s computer system to launch attacks, enlisting 50,000 computers against several online chat networks.
A university spokeswoman told The Daily Pennsylvanian that she could not comment on whether the guilty plea would affect Mr. Goldstein’s status as a student. —Jeffrey R. Young
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