Adelaide teenager gets a good-behavior bond for hacking twice into Apple’s computer systems
An Australian teenager who was a big admirer of the technology giant, Apple hacked into the company’s secure computer system twice hoping to get a job. He is now pleading guilty to multiple computer hacking charges.
The 17-year-old Adelaide schoolboy, who can’t be named, along with another teenager from Melbourne first hacked into Apple’s mainframe in December 2015 when he was just 13 years old. He again hacked the system in early 2017 when he was 15 years old, and managed to download internal documents and data, according to ABC News.
His actions came to the notice of authorities after the second incident. Apple then contacted the FBI who in turn contacted the Australian Federal Police (AFP).
The teen, who is credited with a “high level of expertise” in information technology, created false credentials to break into Apple’s server making it think that he was a company employee.
His lawyer, Mark Twiggs, told the Adelaide Youth Court that the teen thought the company might offer him a job and was not aware of the seriousness of his actions at the time.
“This offending started when my client was 13 years of age, a very young age,” he said.
“He had no idea about the seriousness of the offence and hoped that when it was discovered that he might gain employment at this company.
“He didn’t know this was going to lead to anything other than a job at the end of it, [this] happened in Europe, a similar person got caught and they ended up getting employed by the company.”
The prosecutors told the Adelaide Youth Court on Monday that Apple did not suffer any loss or damage as a result of the hacks.
The court also heard the boy had been motivated by his desire to secure a job with Apple.
The teenager faced the Adelaide Youth Court and pleaded guilty to several counts of unauthorized modification of data. The court encouraged him to use his “significant talent” for good instead of evil and placed him on a $500 bond to be on good behavior for nine months.
No conviction was recorded. Even the teenager’s accomplice was spared a conviction when dealt with through the Children’s Court of Victoria.
