British student found guilty of Anonymous web attacks
Sentence TBC
Christopher Weatherhead, a 22-year-old British student, has been convicted for taking part in cyber-attacks carried out by Anonymous.
He and three others were arrested over attacks on Paypal, Mastercard, Visa and the BPI as part of "Operation Payback".
Denial of service (DDoS) attacks were carried out against the companies rending their websites replaced by a message reading "You've tried to bite the Anonymous hand. You angered the hive and now you are being stung."
Stinger
Despite denying an integral role in the attacks, Weatherhead was convicted of conspiracy to impair the operation of computers under the Criminal Law Act 1977.
Three others were also charged - Peter Gibson, 24, Ashley Rhodes, 28, and Jake Birchall, 18 – who all pled guilty at earlier hearings.
A sentence is yet to be passed down with Judge Peter Testar explaining, "I want to have as much information as possible before deciding what should happen in the case of these four men.
"I think these are serious offences to my mind, and I hope the defendant understands that."
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From The Guardian
Former UK News Editor for TechRadar, it was a perpetual challenge among the TechRadar staff to send Kate (Twitter, Google+) a link to something interesting on the internet that she hasn't already seen. As TechRadar's News Editor (UK), she was constantly on the hunt for top news and intriguing stories to feed your gadget lust. Kate now enjoys life as a renowned music critic – her words can be found in the i Paper, Guardian, GQ, Metro, Evening Standard and Time Out, and she's also the author of 'Amy Winehouse', a biography of the soul star.