Hacker jailed after stealing thousands of pounds worth of gold bullion

London’s Evening Standard reports:

A thief has been jailed after he stole thousands of pounds worth of gold by hacking into a company computer system from his Canary Wharf home.

Adam Penny, 25, hid one of his laptops in the toilet at his lavish apartment in a bid to stop detectives discovering his operation.

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The hacker stole the names, addresses and parcel tracking numbers of customers who were waiting for deliveries of gold bullion, which he passed on to three other men who acted as interceptors.

He sent the three thieves to wait outside of the addresses to interrupt the gold deliveries.

The group stole, or attempted to steal, six packages of gold with an estimated value of more than £88,000, which they then sold to an unsuspecting London jeweller.

To add to his sins, Penny also attempted to blackmail the gold bullion trading company for a further £50,000.

When police arrested Penny they found his six iPhones and two MacBooks, gathering evidence of his blackmail demands and instructions he had given other gang members who were intercepting the gold bullion deliveries.

In a press statement Detective Inspector Sanjiv Gohil, of the Metropolitan Police’s Cyber Crime Unit, reminded businesses of the need for secure defences:

“This case highlights the importance of robust cyber security systems for businesses and particularly those with an on-line presence. In this case the breach was reported to the police and we were able to investigate and bring Penny to justice, without further compromise to the company and their customers.”

Adam Penny has received a jail sentence of five years and four months.

Now he has been imprisoned Penny will have plenty of time to reflect on how he managed to flush his life down the toilet.

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Graham Cluley •   @gcluley

Graham Cluley is a veteran of the cybersecurity industry, having worked for a number of security companies since the early 1990s when he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows. Now an independent analyst, he regularly makes media appearances and is an international public speaker on the topic of cybersecurity, hackers, and online privacy. Follow him on Twitter, Mastodon, Bluesky, or drop him an email.