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Update: NSW man charged over NBN hacking plot

A man has been arrested for allegedly plotting damage to Australian infrastructure: police

A NSW man has been charged with hacking a National Broadband Network (NBN) provider, allegedly putting the national infrastructure at risk.

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) arrested the 25-year-old Cowra man on 49 hacking charges after a six-month investigation into his online activities.

They will allege in court that his hacking activity could have potentially caused considerable damage to Australia's national infrastructure.

The arrested man is an unemployed truck driver who police allege is a self-taught hacker. He is due to appear in Orange Local Court on Wednesday.

AFP investigators found a compromise to Platform Networks, a wholesale internet provider in Sydney that is one of the contracted providers of the NBN release, in June.

Platform Networks co-operated fully with the AFP during the investigation, working with officers to monitor the alleged offender's illegal activities inside their network.

"While Platform Networks had strong cyber security measures in place, even the best security systems are only as strong as the weakest link - it only takes one user with a weak password to put an entire network at risk," AFP national manager for High Tech Crime Operations, Neil Gaughan, said in the statement.

The AFP has been investigating the Cowra man for six months.

"The AFP will allege this man was motivated by ego in his illegal hacking, proving his skills after complaining he could not get work in the IT sector. He is known to use the online nickname Evil."

He has been charged with one count of unauthorised modification of data to cause impairment, and 48 counts of unauthorised access to, or modification of restricted data.

The first charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years' jail while the second count carries a maximum sentence of two years.

The AFP says it is likely further charges will follow.

Join the CIO Australia group on LinkedIn. The group is open to CIOs, IT Directors, COOs, CTOs and senior IT managers.

More about: Australian Federal Police, etwork, Federal Police, Orange

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