A 17-year-old who pleaded guilty to offenses relating to 2015’s TalkTalk cyberattack has had his iPhone confiscated and been sentenced to a 12-month rehabilitation order.
The teenager also had his laptop and hard drive taken away, an order that was decided by Norwich Youth Court in the UK.
The sentence, made on December 13th, followed a hearing into the data breach, where the boy owned up to his transgression and told magistrates: "I was just showing off to my mates".
"Your IT skills will always be there - just use them legally in the future."
Speaking to the youngster, who cannot be named because of his age, Jean Bonnick, chairman of the bench chairman, said: "Your IT skills will always be there - just use them legally in the future."
The attack, which happened on October 21st last year, cost the telecom group £42 million.
The outcome saw personal data of over 150,000 customers accessed. Of this, 15,000 people had their financial information compromised.
The boy was charged with seven offenses, two of which were related to the TalkTalk cyberattack.
Investigators also found that he had been targeting other websites, including those belonging to Cambridge University and Manchester University.
Speaking to the court last month, he said of his crimes: “It was a passion – not anymore. I won’t let it happen again. I have grown up.”
The age of the cybercriminal highlights how young fraudsters can be. Statistics released by the UK’s National Crime Agency earlier in the year showed that the average cybercriminal is now just 17, compared to in 2015 when it was 24.
Speaking after the attack in 2015, TalkTalk’s CEO, Dido Harding, described cybercrime as “the crime of our generation”.
