Shetland Hacker Named: Jake Davis Liked Playing Online Chess, God.
The Shetland teen arrested for the LulzSec hacking has been named as Jake Davis an online chess fanatic and a resident of Yell, one of the northernmost islands in the Shetlands with a population of 957 at the last census.
Davis was arrested on Thursday, but the police have only just announced his name before they charge him in a court appearance in London tomorrow morning. He could face up to 10 years for charges of Computer Misuse and encouraging offences under the Serious Crime Act 2007.
The police believe him to be Topiary, the flamboyant spokesperson of LulzSec, behind their Twitter account (now silent) and their grandiose press releases – packed with references to lulz and pirates and an interview with the Guardian. His knack for media attention combined with the group’s high-profile stunts (see their hack of the Sun last week) got LulzSec much of their reputation, something that set them apart from more diffuse quieter hacking groups like Anonymous. He told the Guardian:
“What we did was different from other hacking groups,” says Topiary. “We had an active Twitter (controlled by me), cute cats in deface messages, and a generally playful, cartoon-like aura to our operations. We knew when to start, we knew when to stop, and most of all we knew how to have fun.”
Sadly we doubt the poor guy will be having much fun in Scotland Yard right now…
The 18 year-old was arrested in the island of Yell, though seems to have been living in the more populous town of Lerwick on the main Shetland island, according to a Facebooker called Chris Thomson who commented on the Facebook page Free Topiary. Sounds like we might be looking at another stereotypically reclusive teen hacker: check out this Facebook conversation below.
His interest in online chess is according to blog Sophos who dug up a Facebook profile that they reckon is the right Jake Davis.
Scottish nationalists are getting behind the boy hacker – joining the Facebook group “Free Topiary“, currently on 180 members, and whipping up a Free Topiary icon with a Scottish flag. Unfortunately it’s going to take more than a Facebook group and some some patriotic Scots to help him if the Americans decide they want to extradite the teenager.
Posted: 1st, August 2011 | In: Key Posts, Technology Comments (4) | TrackBack | Permalink
