A Willesden man has been jailed for hacking into a business computer network and stealing more than 450,000 email accounts and passwords.

Nazariy Markuta, of Garnet Road, was a member of the D33Ds Company network which targeted a major Silicon Valley firm in 2012 then posted a link to the email addresses and passwords on their online forum.

Southwark Crown Court heard the 23-year-old set up and run the forum and between 2012 and 2014, he also stole data from a digital games reseller and SMS messaging service, causing losses of tens of thousands of pounds.

Markuta used a technique called MySQL injection to exploit the vulnerabilities of the websites he targeted, forcing them to give up large quantities of data.

He was arrested in March 2015 following an investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA) that identified him as a key contributor to the group’s crimes through his activities on the website.

When officers raided his home they found thousands of items of credit and debit card data

He admitted two offences under the Serious Crime Act 2007, three offences under the Computer Misuse Act 1990 and three offences under the Fraud Act 2006.

He was sentenced to a total of 11 years and three months for all the offences but they will run concurrently meaning he will serve no more than two years in jail.

Luke Wyllie, senior investigator at the NCA’s national cyber Crime unit, said: “Data theft and hacking aren’t victimless crimes or an online hobby. These acts cause financial and reputational damage to businesses and rob their clients of the security they expect and deserve online.

“The NCA continues to identify and pursue serious cyber criminals, however technologically proficient they may be.

“Markuta’s convictions are likely to have a significant impact on his future and we urge other young people with an interest in computers to consider how they can use their skills in ways that benefit themselves and others.”