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The Sydney teen who was arrested last year for attempting to blackmail victims of the Optus data breach was sentenced by the Sydney Downing Centre District Court yesterday.
Dennis Su, of Rockdale, plead guilty to two counts of using equipment connected to a network to commit a serious offence in November 2022, following his arrest in October. Su did not get any jail time but was sentenced to an 18-month Community Correction Order, 100 hours of community service, and his conviction has been recorded.
Su was 19 at the time of his arrest but has since turned 20.
“The criminal use of stolen data is a serious offence and has the potential to cause significant harm to the community,” AFP Commander Chris Goldsmid said in an announcement.
“The AFP-led Joint Policing Cybercrime Centre continues to work around the clock to protect customers affected by recent data breaches who are at risk from identity fraud.”
Su acquired the details of his victims when 10,200 sets of data from last year’s Optus hack were released online. He then sent SMSes to at least 92 Optus customers, threatening to use their details for further “financial crimes” unless they paid Su $2,000.
The AFP does not believe anyone paid the perpetrator.
At the time of his being charged Magistrate Susan Horan told the court that “this is a serious example of this type of offending”. The two charges Su faced carried a maximum penalty of two years in prison.
Community correction orders were only introduced in 2018, as a “more flexible order” and a non-custodial alternative to full-time imprisonment so “offenders can receive supervision to tackle their offending behaviour and be held accountable,” according to the NSW Attorney General at the time of its introduction.
David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.
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