ET

Hacker crashed Emirates computers (Filed: 02/07/2001)

A COMPUTER expert has been fined £2,000 for hacking into the United Arab Emirates only Internet provider and causing the whole country's system to crash.

Lee Ashurst, 22, from Oldham, was convicted yesterday of misusing equipment, services or facilities provided by Emirates Telecommunications Corp Etisalat, but was cleared of a second charge related to opening other people's mail.

Ashurst, who works for a construction company in the Gulf, is now facing a compensation claim of more than £500,000 from Internet provider Etisalat after the Dubai Court of First Instance transferred his case to the civil courts.

Ashurst was working as a computer engineer at a Dubai construction firm in May last year when he began hacking into Etisalat's systems.

According to the Gulf News newspaper, the court was told that the entire United Arab Emirates Internet system crashed on several occasions over a month-long period.

-- Anonymous, July 02, 2001