An Australian man who admitted to hacking into the systems of Australia’s second largest telecommunications company was recently convicted on an appeal in the New South Wales District Court, fined US$2,600 and placed on a two-year good behaviour bond.
Stephen Craig Dendtler had previously had the two matters against him proven after pleading guilty, but did not have a conviction recorded against him. A contrite and shaken Dendtler said that although what he did could be construed as hacking, the only personal benefit he sought to derive was to further his knowledge of computer network security systems.
Dendtler also admitted under cross examination to being a “nerd”, a condition he said he had endured since an “early age” and which had led him to complete a Bachelor of Information Technology at the University of Western Sydney. The condition, it would appear, persists.
The presiding judge also said there was no evidence before him that compelled him to believe Dendtler’s actions constituted an “intellectual pursuit.”
– ComputerWorld Today (Australia)