Middlesex County teenage hacker pleads guilty
Away from the computer, investigators said Jasmine Singh looked and acted like most any other 17-year-old.
In cyberspace, however, investigators said Singh was known both by his online aliases "Jatt" and "Pherk" and for his reputation as a hacker capable and willing to inflict havoc on computer systems of his or others choosing.
The Middlesex County teenager pleaded guilty in state Superior Court this month to carrying out a series of online attacks between July and December 2004 that targeted a online clothing store based in Delran and other e-commerce businesses, according to the New Jersey Attorney General's Office.
The attacks caused the Delran business and some 2,000 other online companies to suffer in excess of $1 million in damages and losses, investigators said.
More troubling still, investigators say, is that the number of so-called cyber criminals like Singh are on the rise and their schemes are becoming more sophisticated.
"It's becoming a growing problem, and we're taking it very seriously," said Special Agent Timothy Nestor, supervisor of cyber crime investigations at the FBI Field Office in Newark.
