Posted on: Friday, March 25, 2005

Man indicted on 38 counts of hacking on Big Island

By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Big Island Bureau

HILO, Hawai'i — A Big Island grand jury indicted a man on 38 charges of second-degree unauthorized computer access Wednesday for allegedly hacking into county and other e-mail accounts.

If convicted, Caylan Nicoll could face up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine for each of the 38 counts.

Deputy prosecutor Tharrington Trusdell said the case is the first he is aware of where the county has prosecuted a hacker.

Trusdell said the county apparently did not suffer any financial losses from the intrusions, and it is unclear what the hacker was trying to accomplish.

Mark Chun, who was system administrator for the county's Internet provider at the time, said the Internet provider questioned certain activities, and the county agreed some of the activity was suspicious.

The provider was then able to confirm that the questionable access came from the University of Hawai'i at Hilo, and notified police, Chun said.

The unauthorized access to the county e-mail accounts occurred between March 24, 2002 and Feb. 28, 2003, according to the indictment.

Trusdell released few details, but he said police did retrieve a computer that contained evidence related to the case.

Reach Kevin Dayton at (808) 935-3916 or kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com.