Russian jailed for six years for hacking into advertising server and making electronic billboard show porn to motorists
A computer hacker who brought Moscow traffic to a standstill with a rush-hour porn stunt has been jailed for six years.
Igor Blinnikov thought it would be fun to hack into one of the video billboards in central Moscow and shock drivers by screening hardcore porn.
He cheekily hacked into the server of the advertising agency operating a 20ft x 30ft billboard next to the Interior Ministry building on the Garden Ring and traffic, predictably, ground to a halt while the clip played for just a couple of minutes.
The 20ft x 30ft Moscow billboard screened porn for two minutes after Igor Blinnikov hacked in the advertising agency's server
Traffic on Moscow s Garden Ring ground to a halt as the the billboard porn caught motorists' attention
But the authorities were not as amused by the stunt, in January 2010, as the motorists may have been and the 41-year-old was swiftly detained.
The shipyard fitter appeared in court in his home city of Novorossiysk in May on charges of selling 13 grams of marijuana. and was sentenced to five years hard labour.
And when went on trial yesterday for the hack itself, prosecutors asked for a six-year prison sentence, which the court handed down in full.
Igor Blinnikov admitted the porn stunt was a 'bad joke' but will try to get his prison sentence reduced
Confessing to the offence, Blinnikov described it as a 'bad joke'.
Before his hearing, he told journalists he had hacked into the billboard using a computer at his home 'just for something to do'.
And after the new sentence, he said: 'I expected a bit less.'
He is to appeal to try to get his jail term reduced.
According to Russian law, the current five year sentence he is serving must be subtracted.
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