A New Zealand teenager charged with computer hacking crimes while allegedly acting as the head of an international cyber crime network appeared in court Friday.
Computer programmer Owen Thor Walker, 18, was charged with two counts of accessing a computer for dishonest purpose, damaging or interfering with a computer system, possessing software for committing crime, and two counts of accessing a computer system without authorization.
Walker did not enter a plea when he appeared briefly in Thames Magistrate's Court in northern New Zealand. He was released on bail. Bail conditions were not immediately available. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Walker was arrested in November last year in the northern city of Hamilton as part of an international investigation into a cyber crime network accused of infiltrating 1.3 million computers and skimming millions of dollars from victims' bank accounts.
"We worked closely with U.S. and Dutch authorities on this investigation. This arrest is significant not just to New Zealand but the international community as well," police spokesman Detective Inspector Peter Devoy said.
"Very few people who carry out this sort of offending are ever prosecuted so the resolution of this case has huge international implications," he added,
The case is part of an international crackdown on hackers who allegedly assume control of thousands of computers and amass them into centrally controlled clusters known as botnets.
The hackers can then use the computers to steal credit card information, manipulate stock trades and even crash industry computers, authorities said when the case first surfaced in late November.
<i> Source: Xinhua/Agencies</i>
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