Aussie hacker infected over 2000 computers

MELBOURNE - A computer hacker from Adelaide in Australia infected more than 2000 computers in and outside the country, a court has heard.

Anthony Scott Harrison, 20, learnt from Internet, the necessary hacking and programming skills to launch his attack last year but the hacker was trapped when suspicious web activity was spotted and tracked by federal police.

He also modified and sold software to allow others to infect computers, with his offending flowing from his obsession with the world of cyber fantasy.

Harrison pleaded guilty to seven charges including four counts of modifying computer data to cause harm.

Defence counsel John Edwards told the South Australian District Court that from the age of 14 his client had become obsessed with playing online computer games and had become “immersed in the world of cyber fantasy”.

Edwards said Harrison became quite skilled at computer programming and had the capacity to commit serious offending. But he noted that a clear distinction should be drawn between what he had the potential to do and what he actually did.

Harrison took only small amounts of money, and his actions were mostly experimental or the result of youthful curiosity, the court was told.

“He never had any intention to make it a large-scale, criminal enterprise,” the Age quoted Edwards as saying in defense.

Prosecutor Tracey Nelson said 2370 computers had been infected, and the impact of Harrison’s offending had the potential to be felt across the globe.

“Any of us could become a victim to this type of offending very, very easily,” she said.

Harrison will be sentenced on January 13. (ANI)