The sentences – which are some of the longest ever handed to hackers – included 32-month and 30-month sentences for 21-year-old Ryan Cleary of Wickford in Essex and 26-year-old Iraq veteran Ryan Ackroyd in Yorkshire respectively, reports the Guardian.

‘Embarrassment and disruption’

The group of four – which also included Jake Davis, 20, of Lerwick in Shetland  and Mustafa Al-Bassam, 18, of Peckham in south London – bragged of being ‘gods’ after causing millions of pounds in damages during a three-month spree of attacks in 2011.
Judge Deborah Taylor in London told the four - who had pleaded guilty - that they possessed the capability to cause ‘embarrassment and disruption’ and that the risk of reoffending was ‘substantial’.
A fifth member of the group, Hector Xavier Monsegur of New York – who was allegedly its leader – is facing sentencing in the US, where he could receive up to 124 years.

Hackers

Attacks by the group caused severe disruption at global companies including Sony, News International, PBS and Fox. It also targeted the sites of the CIA and the UK's Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca), as well as rival hackers who attempted to identify them.