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Alleged Hacker Charged In Australia

Thanks Darren Bolton for the heads up.

After alleged break-ins to databases at Australia's No. 2 telco Optus, police raided a home in the Southeastern Sydney suburb of Kingsford, arrested a 21-year-old man and charged him with unauthorized access to a computer system and two counts of unauthorized modification of data with intent to cause impairment.

The charges are brought under new legislation that only came into force last year.

Police said a man has been bailed to appear at Waverley Court on Mar. 6. They also said they had seized a computer and other equipment and documents.

Local media say the man is a former Optus employee and that Optus confirms this, although he cannot be named.

Police say the tip-off that someone had been hacking into systems "within a major telecommunications company" came after the company found "inconsistencies" in its systems and complained that an unknown person had been accessing restricted areas in its databases.

Media reports say the Commercial Crime Agency concluded after a month investigating intrusions into restricted areas that they were being done by an insider. Several databases were reportedly altered.

Optus Corporate Affairs Manager Stephen Woodhill admitted the intruder broke into the databases but said no damage was caused and no customer records were accessed or damaged.

News source: TechNews - Alleged Hacker Charged In Australia

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