Hacker finds his skills in demand

It was a case of poacher turned gamekeeper last week when Mathew Bevan, the hacker formerly known as Kuji, found a respectable job ? as a hacker, writes Sean Fleming.

Bevan was accused of breaking into US military computer systems but walked free from Woolwich Crown Court last November after the case was dropped.

He will work as a member of a team of six reformed saboteurs launching surprise attacks on customers of London-based Tiger Computer Security.

?Once we?ve signed a client up, we tell them to expect an attack within the next six months, but we don?t tell them exactly when.

?It would defeat the purpose if they were watching out for us,? he explained.

Bevan ? whose job title will be Chief Tiger ? said the incidence of cyber terrorism will increase over the next five years.

?I was 11 when I got my first computer and 14 by the time I had a modem.

?You?ve now got kids of eight or nine with PCs at home that have good processing power and Internet access. They will become mature in the use of computers long before they are mature in the wider sense ? the whole situation could go bananas,? he warned.