Finnish teen hacker escapes jail

A teenager in Finland has been handed a two-year suspended sentence after he was charged with more than 50,000 counts of hacking.

A 17-year-old Finnish hacker charged with more than 50,000 counts of hacking and other cyber crimes has received a two-year suspended sentence, Finnish news reports say.

The man, identified as Julius Kivimaki, used the nickname "Zeekill" online.

The crimes - committed from late 2012 until September 2013 - included hijacking emails and diverting computer traffic from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US to a Harvard University website, the Hufvudstadsbladet daily reported.

The Espoo District Court took into consideration in its ruling on Tuesday that he was a juvenile at the time.

In addition to the suspended sentence, he was put under probation, and his computer and 6500 euros ($A10,000) he had in his possession were seized, the report said.

Other charges were related to the use of stolen credit card information for various online purchases, including sparkling wine.

In some cases he passed on information or acted with other unidentified individuals, the report said.

Kivimaki has been linked to hacker group Lizard Squad that in December claimed attacks on online services of gaming consoles Xbox and PlayStation.


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Source: AAP



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