Student charged with hacking his college
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Christopher
Andrew Phillips, center, leaves the federal courthouse in Austin,
Texas on Friday.
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AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Authorities filed federal charges Friday against a
20-year-old student accused of hacking into a University of Texas computer
system and stealing Social Security numbers and other personal information
from more than 55,000 students, faculty and staff members.
Christopher Andrew Phillips, a computer science major at the Austin
campus, was charged with unlawful access to a protected computer and
unlawful use of a means of identification.
He turned himself in on Friday morning and was released without bail
under orders not to use a computer without permission.
No harm intended?
He told officials he had no intention of using the information to harm
anyone, according to court papers.
Phillips said he wrote and executed a computer program to access a
university Web site that tracks employees who attend training classes,
authorities said.
If convicted, he could get up to eight years in prison.
Family friend Gene Baltusknis said Phillips is "fine young man" who has
never before been in trouble with the law.
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