Hackers facing jail for denial of service attacks

The hackers responsible for hitting parliamentary websites with denial of service attacks could face jail time of up to 10 years, police have said.

ITNews.com.au has reported that a Federal Police spokesman said the High Tech Crime Investigations Unit, “proactively investigates individuals or groups seeking to commit serious computer intrusion offences or denial of service attacks”.

The spokesperson also said that “as legislated, DDoS attacks [carry] a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment”.

The attacks were made in protest over the Government’s proposal to filter the internet, which has caused widespread outcry over various internet communities and online tech-based forums.

While the Government has said it will continue to push a proposal to filter internet search results, communications minister Stephen Conroy says it will only do so when a review of the classification system is complete.