Forwarded From: Nicholas Charles Brawn <ncb05at_private> 23Nov98 NEW ZEALAND: ASSOCIATES DENOUNCE WEBSITE HACKER. By TONY WALL. The controversy surrounding the identity of a hacker who last week broke into the Internet Group's computer was compounded yesterday, with associates claiming he was a former employee retaliating for being sacked. But the Mt Albert youth at the centre of the furore, Morehu "Max" Whyte, claims he destroyed about 4600 Ihug Websites to teach the company a lesson for treating his friends badly. He says he is a 15-year-old Metropolitan College student with a string of computer nicknames, including Spazrat, Sharkdog and Acid Storm. But associates, including a former girlfriend who met him through the Internet, say he is 19 years old and was employed by Ihug as a problem-solver." The Internet Group's director, Tim Wood, said claims that his company had employed the youth were "a load of rubbish." The company was still investigating the hacker's links to Ihug and would continue to consult lawyers today on what legal action might be taken. The former girlfriend, Fiona Martin, said Max Whyte told her he was employed by Ihug "and if the helpdesk couldn't help, they'd ask him." A Wellington computer expert, Kerry O'More, a former network supervisor who met Max Whyte at an Internet party in Wellington, claimed the hacker's real computer log-in was Acid Storm, but he was "borrowing" the identity of a 15-year-old user called Spazrat. He said he had proof in his computer log that Acid Storm had worked for Ihug, as he had offered to set Mr O'More up with a static Internet address through his connections with the company. He was later sacked. Mr O'More, aged 19, said Acid Storm did not actually "hack" into the Ihug system to sabotage the Websites, but had used log-ins and accounts he had placed in the system when he had authorisation. Max Whyte said yesterday he had never been employed by the Internet Group, but had friends who worked for the company. One of them had been suspended simply for knowing him, he said, "but there's no way it was an inside job." Max Whyte said he did not believe he had committed any crime and was surprised the Internet Group wanted him extradited to the United States to face charges. "I don't see what they're trying to do here. If they take me to court I'll be 15 years old. "They'd have to take me all the way to California and at the most what would they get out of it - community service?" NEW ZEALAND HERALD 23/11/1998 -o- Subscribe: mail majordomoat_private with "subscribe isn". Today's ISN Sponsor: Repent Security Incorporated [www.repsec.com]
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