By Jo Best, 21 January 2005 15:40
NEWS A man has been arrested for attempting to hack into the DEC.org.uk tsunami charity relief site.
The Metropolitan Police were notified after the attempted hack was discovered on New Year's Eve and blocked by BT, which hosts the secure payment area of the website.
The 28 year-old-man was arrested in London's Bishopsgate area yesterday. The man has since been bailed but is due in court in February over offences relating to the Computer Misuse Act.
Officers are now investigating computer equipment seized during the investigation.
The Met Police have stressed that site is still secure and has security systems designed to detect and block such attempts.
While the attempted hack was unsuccessful, some criminals have tried other means to make money out of the disaster. Some Chinese fraudsters have been manipulating Google rankings to try ensure their fake donations site ranks higher than the genuine one.
Another man was arrested and charged with sending fake charity emails asking for donations for a real relief organisation.
Comments
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1. Jim
Nothing more than pond scum!!
2. Paul B
I suppose it just proves what a sick twisted world we have to live in and how well some lowlife can make our profession look bad.
3. anonymous
Rumor has it this guy's "unsuccessful hack" was actually a legitimate donation made from lynx, a text web browser. The BT guys read the logs wrong, and arrested him on suspect evidence. Moral: use Microsoft products.
4. Steve
Rumours alledge otherwise:
http://www.boingboing.net/2005/01/27/jailed_for_using_a_n.html
5. Alan
This is going to be big fun; it turns out that BT (who run the donation system) decided it was a hack simply because his browser didn't identify as Internet Explorer. Go BT! You total numbskulls!