LONDON - A schoolboy who hacked into the US air force's computer system from his bedroom as a "prank" was fined £1,200 by magistrates in London yesterday.
Mr Richard Pryce (19), of north London, was 16 when in 1994 he gained access to the US military computer network from a personal computer he had bought for £750. The court heard his activities at one point raised fears that a European spy ring had infiltrated the US defence intelligence network. His actions caused alarm in the Pentagon and he was accused in the US Senate of "causing more harm than the KGB."