Alleged Gene Simmons website hacker arrested in Connecticut

By: Crimesider Staff
Topics: Daily Blotter

Gene Simmons

/ file, AP Photo/Chris Pizzello

(CBS/AP) LOS ANGELES - A Connecticut man affiliated with a hacking group was arrested Tuesday on federal charges for an attack on a website belonging to Kiss bassist Gene Simmons, authorities said.

Kevin Poe was indicted in Los Angeles on one count of conspiracy and one count of unauthorized impairment of a protected computer. Poe made his initial appearance in court in Hartford, Conn., and was released on $10,000 bond and ordered to appear in federal court in Los Angeles.

If convicted of both charges, the Manchester man faces up to 15 years in prison.

Poe and others linked to the Anonymous hacking group allegedly conducted a "denial of service" attack over a five-day period last October against Simmons computer systems, sending tens of thousands of electronic requests designed to overload the server, shutting down www.genesimmons.com.

Poe used a computer program favored by Anonymous that sends extremely large requests over a network in an attempt to overwhelm a target computer, according to the indictment.

Authorities didn't say why Simmons was targeted, but he made comments against copyright infringement at a convention in Cannes, France, days before the cyber attack.

No other arrests have been made.

Anonymous' targets have included MasterCard, Visa and the Church of Scientology. The group has turned its focus to law enforcement, intelligence and military-related sites.

Representatives of Simmons declined to comment.

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