U.K. teen sentenced for hacking: gets probation

Jordan Lee Jones, a 19-year-old U.K. man, was given a 12 month sentence for hacking into the Metropolitan Police Service’s website.

A judge in Teeside Magistrates Court decided that he acted a part of a group that encouraged malicious activity, but that he had stopped and converted his sentence to one year probation. Jones has spent his activity recently to helping organizations find security flaws in their systems.

Jones said: “The reason why the judge decided to set me free was partly because since my arrest last year I made efforts to redeem myself by working with different organizations and helping them identify security flaws in their security systems."

He could have faced up to 10 years in prison.

What Jones did was to write a Python script that in combination with a DDoS tool called the "Low Orbit Ion Cannon" was used to send overwhelming amounts of traffic to the Metropolitan Police website.

Earlier this year Jones reported several vulnerabilities to eBay that he found in its website and has continued to be an independent computer security penetration tester.

Jones was studying IT at Stockton Riverside College, but dropped his courses a few months ago to take some time off. He has since reapplied, but the college has declined his application, which he thinks might be connected to his legal situation.