Teenage Hacker who targeted Cambridge library and TalkTalk now sentenced

The 17 year old teen hacker-man who admitted to seven hacking attacks – including one Library website owned by Cambridge University – has now been sentenced after appearing at trial.

The young hacker, who could not be named for legal reasons, carried out high profile attacks on websites owned by both the University of Cambridge and Manchester alongside TalkTalk.

In court he stated that these high profile attacks against Talk Talk and university webpages were achieved through the use of “legitimate software”. The 17 year old has now been sentenced to a 12 month rehabilitation order, and had personal items such as his iPhone and laptop confiscated.

You might be TalkTalking to a hacker

It was revealed by Cambridge News that the teenager did not exploit the information for gain, but put the company itself at risk, as the TalkTalk website was targeted more than 14,000 times after the hacking.

The chairman of the bench at Norwich Youth Court warned the boy that “Your IT skills will always be there – just use them legally in the future.” Ouch.

Hacking your way into a library might make for an altogether less thrilling TV show

In court, the teenager told magistrates that “I was just showing off to my mates.”

In addition to targeting Cambridge and the TalkTalk website, he also faced (and admitted to) hacking charges on Merit Badges, a family-run supplier of Martial Arts Badges.

Hopefully the young budding computer scientist will be able to put his talents to use as he prepares for further studies at University.