18-year-old Jake Davis – aka Topiary – has been released on bail after facing a number of hacking related charges, including violating Britain’s Computer Misuse Act and conspiring with others to carry out DDoS attacks.
Davis appeared in Westminster Magistrates in London wearing a cool pair of shades and carrying a book called “Free Radicals: The Secret Anarchy of Science.”
According to Forbes, the court heard an initial 15 minutes of testimony from prosecutors before District Judge Howard Riddle decided Davis could be released on bail, pending yet another court appearance on August 30th.
As expected, bail conditions stipulated a 10pm – 7am curfew at the Davis family home, the wearing of an electronic tag, along with a ban on accessing the Internet and using any mobile device with web capabilities.
“As far as bail is concerned it is clear that there is strong evidence you have been involved in and linked with a group or organization that has committed very serious offenses,” said Riddle.
“But I bear in mind the following: you are still only 18… [And] You’ve not been in trouble before. I accept it is clear to me that these proceedings have been a considerable shock to you.”
Unsurprisingly, Topiary’s defense team sought to portray the teen as more of an hacktivist than a hard-core hacker.
“The picture that emerges is not of a skilled and persistent hacker, but [rather], someone [who] sympathizes and publicizes and acts as a repository for information hacked by others,” said defense attorney Gideon Cammermon.
Meanwhile, Topiary supporters on the AnonymousIRC Twitter account kept up a steady stream of tweets in solidarity with Davis.
“Electronically enforced curfew and internet ban is NOT freedom! Stay strong, @atopiary. We will continue this… We, the people, [are] silent no more.”
As TG Daily previously reported, Topiary was arrested last Wednesday on the Shetland islands for his alleged links to both Anonymous and LulzSec.
A Dell laptop seized during the arrest operation reportedly contained multiple folders with pre-paid credit card numbers, text files of LulzSec activity and user details and passwords of 750,000 individuals. The laptop was also equipped with a 100 GB encrypted-hard drive, on which resided 16 separate VMs.
Davis currently stands accused of extracting data from UK National Health Service (NHS) computers, participating in attacks against both News International and the Serious Organised Crime Agency, as well as compromising the bank details of a large number of people when Sony Pictures Entertainment was hacked.
