Computer hacker jailed for attacking websites of airport and hospital

A homeless computer hacker calling himself His Royal Gingerness has been jailed for attacking the websites of the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and Norwich International Airport.

The actions of Daniel Devereux, 30, cost Norwich International Airport between £30,000 and £40,000, and caused the website of the hospital to be taken down for a day, Norwich Magistrates' Court heard.

Devereux admitted two counts of unauthorised access under the Computer MisuseAct and was sentenced to 32 weeks in prison.

Ian Devine, prosecuting, said the hospital hack resulted in the website beingtaken offline for 24 hours as a precaution while security was improved.The airport took its website down for three days and a new website was built, costing the airport in loss of income and other expenses.

People at both organisations had received emails from Devereux signed "His Royal Gingerness." Police traced both hacks to the same IP address and Devereux was arrested.

Mark Davis, mitigating, said Devereux was a so-called "white hat hacker" who wanted to highlight security vulnerabilities so they could be rectified.