Thomson Reuters deputy social media editor Matthew Keys will face charges next month after being indicted Thursday for allegedly conspiring with members of the hacking group “Anonymous” to infiltrate a Tribune site shortly after he was fired.
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Keys, 26, who once worked at Fox 40 in Sacramento, was charged with three hacking-related counts and faces up to 10 years in prison for the December 2010 attack. The hack appeared on a news story on the website of the Los Angeles Times, which is also owned by Tribune.
Reuters issued a statement saying it was aware of the indictment. “Any legal violations, or failures to comply with the company’s own strict set of principles and standards, can result in disciplinary action. We would also observe the indictment alleges the conduct occurred in December 2010; Mr. Keys joined Reuters in 2012, and while investigations continue we will have no further comment,” a Thomson Reuters spokesman told the wire service.
Keys could not immediately reached.
According to federal authorities, Keys provided a user name and password for Tribune servers to hackers in an online chat room after he was terminated from KTXL FOX 40 in late October of that year and “encouraged” them to disrupt the site. With the information from Keys, prosecutors allege, a hacker accessed a news story on The Times’ website and changed a headline to read: “Pressure builds in House to elect CHIPPY 1337.”
