Jack Chappell, 19 of Cheshire, was sentenced at Manchester Crown Court on Tuesday, after entering a guilty plea during an earlier hearing, according to the Crown Prosecution Service.

He was initially under investigation for offences under the Computer Misuse Act for launching a number of DDoS attacks on Manchester College. Police seized his computer and found that he was selling DDoS packages.

The security firm Sophos said that among the sites Chappell attacked were Netflix, Amazon, Verizon, Sprint, Vodafone, O2, Virgin Media, NatWest Bank, Pornhub, the BBC, MIT, the University of California San Diego, and Britain’s National Crime Agency.

Chappell was a front for an operation known as vDOS, run by two Israeli teenagers who were arrested in August. The two Israelis, Yarden “applej4ck” Bidani and Itay “p1st” Huri, took most of the fees that Chappell collected when he sold DDoS attacks.

One of the arguments mounted by Chappell's defence was that he received only 1500 for his role in the DDoS sales, which meant he deserved to be viewed as another victim.

Hannah Sidaway, senior crown prosecutor for the West Midlands, said: “As cyber crime has evolved, people with specialist skills and knowledge are working to enable hackers to commit attacks, by providing the tools for the job.

“They are as responsible for the loss and damage caused as the individuals pressing the buttons. These attacks are not victimless and cause financial and reputational harm to both businesses and their customers.”