Teen Hacker Pleads Not Guilty to Jamming Sites

A 16-year-old Canadian hacker known as “Mafiaboy” pleaded not guilty to mischief charges related to the jamming of high-profile Web sites such as Yahoo, CNN.com and EBay in February, crimes that served as a global wake-up call to the Internet’s fragility. The Montreal-area teen, who cannot be identified under a Canadian law designed to protect young offenders, appeared tense as his lawyer registered the pleas at the Quebec Court Youth Chamber in Montreal, shortly after the prosecution added 64 charges against him. Mafiaboy, whose computer skills have been described by police as far from extraordinary, was initially charged with two counts of mischief related to a cyber-attack on CNN.com. More charges were added after police discovered evidence linking him to attacks the same day on five other Web sites. The attacks flooded the sites with traffic and left them inaccessible for hours. If convicted, the teenager would face as many as two years in a youth detention center.