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Teen Cybercrime "Mastermind" Puts On White Hat, Walks Free

by Tim Stevens on July 15, 2008 at 03:18 PM

Teen Cybercrime
Owen Thor Walker is 18, a kid from New Zealand with a talent for computers. He's also one of the world's most important criminal masterminds when it comes to cybercrime, having been arrested late last year for leading an international online syndicate, stealing money from bank accounts, initiating distributed denial of service attacks against any target he liked, and causing over $20-million in losses worldwide. He was facing up to 10 years in prison for his crimes, yet he walked away a free man earlier today after striking a deal with the forces who arrested him.

Walker has been recruited by the New Zealand police force to help them track and fight cybercrime in his home nation, trading in his black hat for a white one. He did get stuck paying an $11,000 fine, which seems rather paltry compared to the damages he caused, and had to turn all in his computer equipment, making us think N.Z. still doesn't quite trust him. In the end, with a small slap on the wrist and a new career ahead of him in the security business, it's almost like he's come out ahead from this deal, something that won't exactly discourage others from following in his footsteps. [Source: ABC News]

Tags: cybercrime, ddos, white hat, WhiteHat

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