Journalist handed two-year sentence for role in hack

Former Reuters journalist Matthew Keys was today sentenced to two years in prison for assisting members of the Anonymous hacktivist collective to gain access to a newspaper content management system six years ago.

Matthew Keys

Keys told iTnews he intended to appeal both the conviction and the sentence, and hoped to stay out of prison during the process.

"My attorneys feel we have very good appellate points to make, and we believe I am a good candidate for securing a stay of sentence as the appeals process plays out - which means I would not have to report to prison until we've exhausted all remedies," Keys said.

He is accused of providing administrator access in 2010 to the Tribune Media content management system, which allowed Anonymous to deface the website of the Los Angeles Times.

Internet relay chat logs were also found on a former Anonymous member's computer that incriminated Keys, with hackers saying the journalist had supplied login credentials to the Tribune Media computer systems.

In October last year, Keys was convicted of aiding Anonymous, and prosecutors demanded a five-year prison sentence.

He was found guilty under the United States Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) which was also used against late activist Aaron Swartz, co-author of the first specification for the Rich Site Summary web feed system.