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UK Teen Gets Grounded For Spamming
SecurityProNews
Staff Writer
2006-08-25
 Insider Reports RSS Feed
A 19-year-old revenge spammer was sent to his room for two whole months by a British court this week. David Lennon will be monitored via an electronic monitoring device while under curfew, or risk a stiffer sentence - like taking his Xbox and TV away.
Lennon is required to stay home between the hours of 12:30 am and 7am on weekdays, and 12:30 am and 10am on weekends. So, no midnight movies? No sleepovers? No fair!
The young man pleaded guilty to a violation of the Computer Misuse Act after bombarding an insurance company's servers, which melted into a pool of electrified goo. Lennon, 16 at the time of the incident, shot five million emails to the company, just after they fired him.
The emails quoted the horror movie, "The Ring":
bUt He DoEsN't KnOw......" "He DoEsN't KnOw WhAt, SaMaRa?" "EvErYoNe WiLl SuFfEr
The judge, presiding over Wimbledon Magistrates court, enacted the sentence so as not to interfere with the teen's new job at the movie theater, and will end the day before Lennon begins college.
Now tell the judge you're sorry and go up to your room. We're very disappointed. So is Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos.
"Lennon cannot be classed in the same camp as the organised criminals aiming to steal money from millions of innocent PC users, but his light sentence reflects the inadequacies of the Computer Misuse Act," he said.
"The 1990 act is about as much use as a chocolate teapot when it comes to dealing with the latest types of cybercrime, such as denial-of-service attacks and email mass-bombardment, and it's high time that it was revised."
Well said sir! Now what do you have to say for…wait, Cluley wasn't finished yet.
"It's essential that young people learn that the internet is not a playground where any kind of behavior is acceptable. Computer-literate teens need to understand that bombarding others with email or malware can lead to them ending up in court. Kids who are knowledgeable about computers should put their enthusiasm into more positive activities."
Yeah! Now get goin' and think about what you did.
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