Teen charged with e-crime faces jail

Teenage computer whiz Owen Walker faces up to seven years in jail after becoming the first person in New Zealand to be charged with botnet crime.

But it now seems unlikely the Whitianga teenager will be extradited to the United States to face charges.

Using the cyber-id Akill, Walker is alleged to have been part of a small but elite botnet coding group that developed malware which is estimated to have caused more than US$20 million ($24.5 million) of economic loss and involved cyber crimes committed in the United States ranging from vandalism to virtual bank robbery.

Walker appeared in the Thames District Court yesterday and was charged with two counts of accessing a computer for dishonest purpose, damaging or interfering with a computer system, possessing software for committing crime and two counts of accessing a computer system without authorisation.

He entered no plea and was remanded on bail to appear in court again next week.