[ISN] Teen hacker fined for server attack

[InfoSec News]

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/teen-hacker-fined-for-server-attack/2006/02/13/1139679536471.html

By Steve Butcher
February 14, 2006

HE WAS the only Australian member of a small international computer 
hacking team - a Melbourne teenager nicknamed Susboy - and he craved 
kudos.

But 19-year-old Stephen Sussich's need to impress his six secret 
colleagues in Team Simplicity ended when four carloads of police 
arrived at his family home in Essendon.

The ramifications of the dawn raid, which horrified his unsuspecting 
parents and woke the neighbours, killed Sussich's curiosity for 
computer hacking.

The fallout continued yesterday in Melbourne Magistrates Court when 
Sussich was convicted and fined $2000 and ordered to pay $3000 
compensation to the firm whose server he attacked.

Judy McGillivray, prosecuting, told the court that routine maintenance 
last August of Brisbane-based company Webcentral revealed scanning 
tools linked to a person with the username mssql. Through another 
company, Webcentral had server links to 46,000 credit card holders.

Ms McGillivray said investigations found mssql had illegally put a 
"rootkit" - an "intruder's toolkit" - on the server, which can hide 
its presence, stop access and close windows behind it.

When the Australian Federal Police High-Tech Crime Centre in Canberra 
examined the server, numerous references to Susboy were found.

Ms McGillivray said there was no evidence Sussich accessed any credit 
card details or was financially motivated. Sussich, of Jacka Street, 
Essendon, pleaded guilty to two charges of unauthorised modification 
of data to cause impairment.

Defence lawyer Peter Randles said Sussich was a "normal, decent young 
guy" with great computer skills and a talent for breaching security 
systems.

But Mr Randles said curiosity had got the better of Sussich. The 
police raid last September had "killed his illegal curiosity" and he 
urged magistrate Lisa Hannan not to convict him.

Ms Hannan said while Sussich had shown remorse, his offences 
undermined community confidence in e-commerce.