Fergie's Tech Blog

Australia: Queensland Network Connection 'Hijacker' Apprehended

Mark Schliebs writes on Australian IT:

A man who allegedly tried to extort money by hijacking the internet connections of unsuspecting users to send threatening emails has been arrested in an undercover police sting.

For several months, the 22-year-old man allegedly accessed other Rockhampton residents’ wireless connections to send emails that could not be traced back to him, police in the northern Queensland city said.

According to police, the man allegedly used his PDA, the unsecured connections and a “masking” service that allowed him to send the alleged threats to a variety of people using a magazine editor’s email address.

Police in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria - as well the Australian Federal Police - were involved in investigating the emails.

posted by Fergie @ 12/09/2007 08:54:00 PM