New Zealander Admits Cyber Crime

A teenage hacker from Hamilton, New Zealand has pleaded guilty to his role as ringleader in an international internet crime ring.

Owen Thor Walker - who is just 18 years old - admitted six charges at the hearing. These charges were accessing a computer for dishonest purposes, interfering with computer systems, possession of software for committing crime, and accessing computer systems without authorisation.

The teenager has been in custody since November, as a result of the FBI’s Operation Bot Roast II, which was a worldwide crackdown on botnets. A botnet is an illegal network of computers, which have been hijacked by hackers. These computers are then controlled remotely via the internet and used to distribute spam, viruses or for other illicit purposes. In this case, police allege that the teenager’s botnet comprised of nearly 1.5 million computers, which obtained enough confidential personal details to skim over £10 million from private bank accounts.

Walker is said to suffer from Asperger’s syndrome, a neurobiological disorder that causes behavioural problems. While Asperger’s sufferers usually have a normal level of intelligence, they often excel in certain areas. This seems true of Walker, whose computing expertise was so profound that he managed to write sophisticated hacking software that could evade most anti-spyware programmes. Walker is thought to have sold this software on to criminals all over the world, who were responsible for the money fraud.

Walker has been remanded on bail until he is sentenced in May. Several of the charges that the teen has admitted carry maximum prison terms of five years, but Judge Arthur Tompkins is not thought to be considering imprisoning the youth. Walker was underage at the time of the offences and he has been fully cooperative with the police, so he is expected to get a more lenient sentence.

Source:

Guardian
BBC