New Jersey teen hacker admits to Scientology-web attack

Melbourne, Oct 20 : A teenage hacker, belonging to underground group 'Anonymous', has confessed to have hacked Church of Scientology websites, say justice officials.

According to the Justice Department, Dmitriy Guzner, 18, of New Jersey will plead guilty to computer hacking, reports News.com.au.

He was accused of allegedly launching a distributed denial of service (DDOS) attack against Scientology websites in January this year.

In DDOS attacks, websites are inundated with a large volume of malicious internet traffic, which make the sites inaccessible to legitimate users.

The information filed in federal court in Los Angeles revealed that Guzner described himself as a member of "Anonymous."

"Anonymous" is a loose collection of Internet users that has carried out a series of protests against Scientology.

On the other hand, the church has branded Anonymous "cyber-terrorists" and has even accused it of suppressing free speech and perpetrating religious hate crimes by attacking Scientology websites.

Members of Anonymous carried out many worldwide protests earlier this year, where they gathered wearing masks and handed out flyers accusing the church of financially exploiting its members and suppressing free speech.

A statement released by the Justice Department in Los Angeles said Guzner would formally plead guilty in "coming weeks" at a court in New Jersey.

Guzner faces up to 10 years in federal prison.

ANI