18-year-old hacker convicted in New Zealand

A New Zealand teenager accused of involvement in an international cyber-crimering which skimmed millions of dollars from bank accounts has been convictedof illegal computer hacking.

Owen Thor Walker, 18, allegedly led a group of hackers who used his programmesto send malicious software to and steal data from at least 1.3 millioncomputers worldwide, resulting in losses of US$20 million (£10.1 million).

Mr Walker, who was arrested as part of an FBI investigation in December,yesterday pleaded guilty to six charges relating to using computers forillegal purposes.