Teen hacker gets six months in detention center

[William Knowles <wk () C4I ORG>]

http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-4159814.html?tag=st.ne.1005.thed.ni

By Reuters
Special to CNET News.com
December 14, 2000, 10:10 p.m. PT

HONG KONG - A teenage computer hacker in Hong Kong has been sentenced
to a maximum of six months in a detention center for causing the
network of a leading local Internet service provider to crash, a court
official said Friday.

Under the law, 19-year-old Choi Kong-lam's release within the
six-month time period will be at the discretion of the officer in
charge of the detention center, the official added.


Choi, was convicted Nov. 30 of causing criminal damage, staged a
string of hacker attacks between January and April this year against
the networks of the then Cable & Wireless HKT, the territory's main
telecom company.

HKT was taken over by Internet company Pacific Century Cyberworks in
August.

In one attack in January, Choi succeeded in hacking into the HKT
network causing an hour-long system shutdown.

The English-language South China Morning Post, quoting a police
officer who investigated the case, said this was the first case of its
kind in Hong Kong.

Earlier this month, the government proposed new laws to dramatically
increase penalties for hackers.



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