Hacker admits attacking UK abortion website
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}LONDON -- A man claiming allegiance to the Internet activist group Anonymous admitted Saturday to hacking into the website of a major British abortion provider, and was denied bail by a judge.
James Jeffery, 27, was arrested Friday for breaking into the website of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, which has around 40 clinics and other centers across the country. The service said Jeffery wasn't able to access medical information about women who had sought treatment from the nonprofit, but he stole about 9,000 records of people who had made inquiries through the website.
Jeffery appeared at a London court Saturday to admit two offenses under the Computer Misuse Act.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Judge Daphne Wickham called Jeffery a "zealot with an anti-abortion campaign" and refused an application for bail, saying he was an "able hacker" and that many other organizations and people's private details would be at risk.
Prosecutors said Jeffery boasted on Twitter that he had hacked into the site and obtained the contact details of women who were seeking assistance from the service. Lawyers representing Jeffery said that he eventually decided against publishing the personal data.
The nonprofit said that its website suffered numerous attacks on Thursday, and alerted police after tracing the onslaught to a Twitter user.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Jeffery, who had previous convictions for theft, cannabis cultivation and assault, will be sentenced at Southwark Crown Court at a later date.