Galway Bay fm newsroom - A Claregalway teenage hacker who broke into The Sun newspaper's website and redirected users to a fake story saying media mogul Rupert Murdoch was dead is now a cybercrime fighter, a court has heard.
Darren Martyn with an address in Cloonbigeen, Claregalway was 19 years old when he, along with others, hacked into the News International website six years ago.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Martyn told gardaí he took part in the hacking in retaliation for the UK media company's involvement in the phone hacking scandal.
He was a member of Lulzsec, a part of the Anonymous hacking group at the time.
Martyn, now aged 24, pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal damage to data that was the property of News International in July 2011.
His co-accused, Donncha O’Cearbhaill, last month received a suspended sentence for his part in the hacking.
The court heard the fake news story claimed Mr Murdoch had ingested a large quantity of palladium, a rare earth mineral.
As a result of the hacking, the websites of The Sun and its sister news sites, The Times and The Sunday Times were shut down for a few hours.
It was noted that it took a further three weeks to fully restore the website and deal with security vulnerabilities.
The court heard that in the six years since the hacking, Martyn has gained a degree in forensic science and analysis.
As well as working as a security researcher for a consultancy firm in the UK, he teaches undergraduates in the University of Sheffield.
Judge Karen O'Connor remanded him on continuing bail to May 24 for sentence.
