"Evil" hacker exposes vulnerability of NBN providers

Stan Beer
Wednesday, 27 July 2011 08:13

Business IT - Security

The arrest by the Australian Federal Police of a self taught 25 year old computer hacker for taking control of the network of Platform Networks, an ISP providing trial services on the NBN has exposed the frightening vulnerability of broadband providers.

According to reports, such as at the Sydney Morning Herald, an unemployed truck driver, has no formal IT qualifications and was somewhat of a computer junkie who spent most of his time at his desk visiting hacking sites, learning the tricks of the trade and testing his newly acquired skills by hacking into chat rooms.

The man, who gave himself the self-aggrandised title of "Evil", has been charged for 50 counts of hacking related activities.

One of the most disconcerting facts to come out of the case is the fact that the hacker as an amateur probably has a fraction of the skills that professional hackers - working on both sides of the law - possess.

Yet the unemployed amateur hacker was able to obtain control of Platform Networks' systems for six weeks and, despite a statement from police that the provider's security was not really threatened, users are not likely to be reassured after the recent Distribute.IT fiasco where more than 4,000 websites were lost forever from the web host after a break in.