The Australian Federal Police (AFP) have said that a 17-year-old has appeared in court to face charges related to actions taken on behalf of Anonymous. The statement didn’t mention however, the nature of the charges with specifics, as the person in question is still a minor.
According to a media release from the AFP, the alleged Anonymous supporter, or youth as they are referenced in the release, appeared in Parramatta Children’s Court on Friday to face the charges against them.
“Protesting through computer intrusions and website defacements is not an appropriate method to raise public awareness about any issue,” Commander McEwen, Manager of Cybercrime Operations, said in a statement.
The AFP says the teenager was charged with the following: (6) counts of unauthorized modification of data to cause impairment; (1) count of unauthorized access with intent to commit a serious offence; (1) count of possession of data with intent to commit a computer offence; and (12) counts of unauthorized access to restricted data.
In all, assuming the max on each offense, the teenager is facing anywhere from 25 years, to 97 years in prison (we’ll leave it to you dear reader to comment on the scale of the sentencing).
The exact nature of the crimes were not mentioned, due to the fact that the Anon in question is a minor. However, his home was searched in November 2012. This places the search shortly after Operation Australia (@Op_Australia) tweeted a series of messages starting in early September, running until November 4, directing others to attack various Australian domains.
These attacks resulted in the defacement and/or DDoS of several of domains, as well as the leak of sensitive information. However, without confirmation from the AFP (they won’t confirm anything), this link remains pure speculation.
The teenaged Anon is scheduled to appear again in the Parramatta Children’s Court on 17 May 2013.