, Newsbytes 2002-05-13
A Kansas teenager has pleaded guilty to hacking the official Web site of Stockton, Calif. and telling city officials he would secure it if they gave him a laptop computer.
Kroeker has learned a "valuable lesson" in the three years since the episodes began, Moriarty said. He was charged in March with 11 felony counts for allegedly defacing more than 50 sites during 2000 under the name "Artech."
State prosecutors had intended to charge him as an adult under Kansas' computer crime statutes.
Among Kroeker's targets was the Internet home page of the City of Stockton, Calif., which was replaced in June 2000 with one that simply said "Tard." Soon city webmaster Cathy Sloan received an e-mail signed "Matt," who took credit for the defacement and offered to help secure the site in exchange for a laptop computer.
She played along with Kroeker while Stockton technology staffers tried to trace Kroeker's e-mail. The case was first given to the FBI because he was suspected of defacing federal agency Web sites, but went back to local authorities due to Kroeker's age.
Kroeker defaced the U.S. Department of Transportation's information services Web site with the words, "Artech - America's biggest screw up!"
Reported by Newsbytes, http://www.newsbytes.com .
