Cyber-attack teenager is spared detention

A 16-YEAR-OLD boy has been spared detention after launching cyber attacks on websites across the world and sending bomb hoaxes to airlines via Twitter.

The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, attacked 12 websites including his local police force and Sea World when he was aged 14 and 15. He targeted government and pro-hunting sites in Africa, Asia, Europe and North America from the laptop in his bedroom at home in Plympton, near Plymouth, Devon.

Devon and Cornwall Police was affected for 44 minutes after the distributed denial of service attack (DDoS), while his actions cost Sea World almost 600,000 US dollars (£455,000). The boy admitted three offences under Section 3 of the Computer Misuse Act, relating to the DDoS attacks, and was convicted of two charges under Section 51 of the Criminal Law Act.

These related to bomb hoaxes he sent through Twitter to American Airlines, the White House and Delta Air Lines on February 13 last year. District Judge Diane Baker told the boy, who sat next to his mother at Plymouth Youth Court, that she had been minded to sentence him to a 12-month detention and training order.

She instead handed him a two-year youth rehabilitation order, along with 120 hours reparation and to attend courses, after deciding that custody would “destroy” him.The judge said: “The DDoS attacks were sophisticated. On your own admission you became a person to whom others came for advice on how to carry them out. With the bomb hoaxes, again, a significant level of planning - in particular sophistication in ensuring that your actions were not traced.”

She added: “I don’t think there would be any positive outcome for you going into a youth detention centre - I think it would destroy you.

The boy’s mother was ordered to pay £620 in prosecution costs.