Three young hackers under investigation for unlawfully accessing personal information on thousands of people in a LexisNexis database have characterized their act as a cyberjoyride that got out of hand.

The hackers, ages 16, 19 and 20, spoke with Wired News by phone Monday and said that in January and February they accessed LexisNexis data -- which included the Social Security number, birth date, home address and driver's license number of numerous celebrities and hacker friends -- to claim bragging rights, rather than to steal identities or sell the information to identity thieves, as some published reports have stated...

...The Secret Service was already investigating the Paris Hilton T-Mobile hack when LexisNexis contacted the agency about its breach. A source said that when the agency discovered that one of its T-Mobile hacking suspects also breached LexisNexis, they launched an investigation, separate from the California investigation, which eventually led to the hackers.

All three of the hackers Wired News interviewed face possible fines and criminal charges in the LexisNexis case for access device fraud and other crimes, which can carry sentences of more than 15 years. Cam0, as a minor, could face possible juvenile detention until the age of 21.

When asked if he's afraid, Krazed said, "Yeah, I don't know what I'm looking at here. It kind of just got out of hand."

Like Null, he can't afford a lawyer and will have to work with a court-appointed attorney. "Hopefully I get lucky and get a competent one."

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