A schoolboy hacker yesterday admitted criminal damage after vandalising a teenage rival's Web site.
Form Six student Chan Hok-ming, 18, was bound over for 12 months in the sum of $2,000 after admitting one charge of criminal damage and another of blackmail.
Magistrate Timothy Casewell heard how Chan, who ran a Web site that recruited members and promoted advertisements for overseas companies, hacked into the site of Liu Tin-yiu, 18, on October 6.
He posted two pornographic pictures on the site - said to be in competition with Chan's Web site - along with Mr Liu's home address and a message saying: 'This site is under attack.'
The message went on to accuse Mr Liu of stealing computer programs from Chan and warned: 'Your network will get attacked every day if I don't receive any reply.'
Mr Liu reported the case to police the next day and closed his Web site, which had lost the records of 500 of its 2,500 members as a result of the attack. The damage was estimated at $800.
