(((Lest people think I'm a hack-symp – and I am, sorta – let me make it clear that writing *&&%$^& botnets that
@^#%$ *rob banks* is not a keen, nifty, techie-kid with high-SAT thing to do. Nobody grinds out code intending for use in robbing banks of out of some MIT-hackerly sense of edgy, frontier creativity. This verdict is like saying that some 18 year old member of the James Gang ought to be rehabilitated because he can ride hard and shoot straight and therefore has a great future with Custer at the Little Big Horn.)))
(((I'm not saying he ought to be crucified, but just imagine that he'd robbed *your* bank account. Do you want this kind of guy in the freakin' police? I don't care if he's got better code chops than Alan Turing:
this kind of kid is just not law-enforcement material.)))
–Charges Against New Zealand Botmaster Dropped
(July 15, 2008)
A judge in New Zealand dismissed charges against an 18 year old man,
Owen Thor Walker , who had pleaded guilty for his part in an international cyber-crime network that stole over $20.4m from private bank accounts. Walker, who went by the online moniker of "Akill," was accused of writing a sophisticated Trojan which employed encryption techniques enabling it to bypass anti-virus software. New Zealand investigators claimed it was one of the "most advanced" programs they had seen. After both the prosecution and defense counsels pleaded for leniency so that Walker could work with the police in the future, Judge
Judith Potter dismissed the charges against Walker. She did so as she believed a conviction could jeopardise a bright career and that Walker was a man with a potentially outstanding future in law enforcement.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/15/nz_botmaster_escapes_conviction/
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2221717/kiwi-hacker-walks-free-court http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7509052.stm
[Editor's Note (Skoudis): I'm deeply troubled by the logic of this decision. I personally think it opens the doors for more of this kind of crime. If we want to curb cyber attacks, we have to go in the opposite direction – to make people realize that there are serious penalties for engaging in this behavior. Love letters from judges and prosecutors extolling the advanced technical skills and promising future of someone who abetted cyber crime don't help at all.]
