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Teen Hacker Caused $20 Million in Damage

Deathman48 | March 08, 2008 | News | Misc 
A New Zealand based hacker has been tracked down and arrested, facing up to 10 years in jail if convicted. He's one of the many people who helped operate botnets and used them to steal money from unsuspecting peoples' bank accounts. Arrests of this kind are somewhat rare in comparison to the number of people doing this kind of thing, but it's refreshing to see that at least it's not going completely unnoticed by the authorities.
The FBI has put the losses caused by the Netherlands-sited botnet at US$20 million, most of it siphoned from the bank accounts of victims across the globe. Walker, who operated under the handle 'AKILL', now faces up to 10 years in jail if found guilty under New Zealand law.
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  • 1 thumbs!
    Storm | March 09, 2008
    I really like the picture to go along with this here story. The saying 'quit while you're ahead' comes to mind, because sooner or later, they get caught.
  • 1 thumbs!
    Twisted | March 09, 2008
    Holy crap. How would someone do all that :S
    • 0 thumbs!
      tallteen86 | March 09, 2008
      Do you mean 'why?' If so, well, for $$$ obviously, and perhaps 'rep' too >_>

      If I were to do this stuff, I'd do it (if possible) in a non-extradition country under and alias >_>
  • 1 thumbs!
    Silver Mirror | March 09, 2008
    Trust me this guy is a small fry compared to other hackers out there
    • 1 thumbs!
      jmac353 | March 09, 2008
      The real hackers steal and cause millions of dollars and don't get caught.
  • 2 thumbs!
    The Primagen | March 09, 2008
    Silver mirror is right, this guy is just some script kiddy going along with the crowd.. Remember Phoenix? thankfully he no longer "rapes the internet" as he so elegantly put it.
  • 2 thumbs!
    RikuNova | March 09, 2008
    Meh, I've seen better hackers than this. Those hackers cause much more trouble and yet they don't get arrested.
  • -2 thumbs!
    devil link | March 09, 2008
    I wish i could hack . 20 MIL! OMFZG!
  • 1 thumbs!
    ShinyMilotic | March 09, 2008
    Even though this might not be as big as some other hackers, it is still pretty big, $20 mil 0_o
  • -1 thumbs!
    Underated | March 09, 2008
    Wow, it's cool in a way, the guy's an idiot, though.
  • 3 thumbs!
    BANDITO ATTACK | March 09, 2008
    10 years for 20$ million? come on. they can do better than that.
    • 0 thumbs!
      Jai Poke Manic | March 09, 2008
      Yeah you do have a point there BANDITO ATTACK.$20 million for 10 years isnt enough.
  • 0 thumbs!
    Jai Poke Manic | March 09, 2008
    Why do poeple hack stuff there a bit *bleep*ed dont you think so.

    ~Jai~
  • 0 thumbs!
    The Primagen | March 09, 2008
    You could put it that way Jai, but we cant stop them now. The hacking community is far more widespread than anyone could've foreseen 10 years ago, Besides, They aren't all Black hat uber criminals, some just poke around and observe and some even fix problems.
  • 0 thumbs!
    Capn Droid | March 10, 2008
    Wow. A teen did this. That's pretty independent stuff right there.

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