UK hacker fined for personnel database mischief

A court has ordered a UK hacker to pay compensation after he used a purloined laptop to hack into his ex-employer's personnel database.

Colin Parker, 31, gained unauthorised access to staff contracts containing salary details and emailed this to around 400 workers at his ex-employer, CHI and Partners. Parker's attempt to create bad feeling among workers at the firm was foiled by an alert sys admin, who intercepted and deleted the potentially incendiary emails.

Parker, who was found responsible for the theft of a laptop and given a conditional discharge*, agreed to pay his ex employer CHI and Partners £4,000 in compensation and £3,000 in prosecution costs to settle the case during a hearing at Southwark Crown Court on Monday. He is liable for 12 months' imprisonment if he fails to satisfy these conditions, a spokesman for Southwark Crown Court confirmed.

The case was investigated by specialist officers from the newly established Police Central eCrime Unit. ®

Bootnote

* A conditional discharge sentence means a court agrees not to further punish a defendant providing they comply with certain conditions. No conviction is recorded.