‘Bored’ teen hacker found guilty in thousands of bomb hoaxes
An American-Israeli teen hacker was convicted of making thousands of bomb threats to airports, schools and Jewish community centers across the globe.
The 19-year-old, identified by multiple outlets as Michael Kaydar, was busted in March 2017 with the help of the FBI after making more than 2,000 menacing calls to institutions from 2014 to 2017.
He was convicted in Tel Aviv District Court on Wednesday after being found guilty of crimes including hundreds of counts of extortion by threat, sending fraudulent messages and others, according to the Jerusalem Post.
The “JCC Hoax Bomber” used high-tech measures to hide his tracks and also used a “dark net” market to offer to send threats to targets in return for payment. One of his ads offered to send a customized threat to a school for $30 — with a surcharge to have someone framed.
The menacing calls sparked mass evacuations, planes to dump fuel and make emergency landings, fighter jets to scramble — and in one case he threatened to execute children he claimed to be holding hostage, the Times of Israel reported.
When asked to explain his motive, the teen told psychiatrists he’d been bored.
“I did it out of boredom; it was like a game. I understand that it is forbidden. I am sorry, I won’t do it again,” he said, according to court papers. “I like to see people running around in panic.”
But his parents and lawyers argued that he had a brain tumor that caused autism and other mental problems, making him unable to understand the nature of his actions, Haaretz reported.
“He’s not guilty — it was the tumor,” his mom stated in March.
Judge Zvi Gurfinkel rejected the argument that Kaydar was mentally unfit to stand trial.
“He very much understands the significance of his actions,” he said, according to the Times of Israel.
In addition to facing a long prison sentence in Israel, the teen has been indicted on hate-crime charges by the US Department of Justice, and could face a prison term of 20 years. Potential extradition was postponed as he was tried in Israel.
Leave a Reply