Teen hackers sentenced in Hong Kong

A teenage computer hacker was sentenced to six months imprisonment and two accomplices were sent to a detention centre for computer offences in a landmark case in Hong Kong, according to reports Thursday.

These computer criminals were reportedly found guilty of gaining unauthorised access to other users' Internet access accounts, selling passwords and personal details as well as violating copyright law.

The Hong Kong Standard reports that Po Yiu-ming, Tam Hei-lun and Mak King-lam pleaded guilty to 49 different computer related offences. Po Yiu-ming is accused of stealing 127 passwords and the accomplices are accused of selling CDs from music downloaded from the Internet.

According to the report the youths were arrested by police, following a lengthy investigation. The defendants are said to have used a Tojan Horse program to gain remote access to users computers and steal their data.

Laws regulating computer related offences were introduced in Hong Kong in 1994 and this is the first time they have been used successfully to prosecute anyone.

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