Teen Team Poison Leader Jailed Over Tony Blair Address Book

The 17-year-old leader of hacking group Team Poison has been jailed for six months after he helped publish former prime minister Tony Blair’s address book online.

Junaid Hussain was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on Friday, having pleaded guilty in June to “cause a public nuisance” when involved in phone bombing the Metropolitan Police’s Anti-Terrorist Hotline, preventing people with genuine concerns getting through.

Hussain, of Birmingham, and Team Poison managed to steal and publish Blair’s address book in June 2011, as the hacking group began to gain some prominence, with the likes of Anonymous taking note of the collective. Team Poison had fallen out with LulzSec, accusing it of being a band of script kiddies, but the latter disbanded shortly after.

The hacktivist ‘deterrent’

Hussain’s group claimed it accessed Blair’s book from a webmail account in December 2010, and Downing Street said it appeared to have come from the email of a former Blair colleague.

Another offence was left to lie on file. Hussain was arrested after an investigation by the Police Central eCrime Unit (PceU). “Hussain’s actions were foolish and irresponsible. Today’s sentencing emphasises the seriousness of his offence and should act as a deterrent to anyone else who feels that they can act in such a manner,” said detective Inspector Stewart Garrick, of the PceU.

Hussain’s sentence marks another success for law enforcement in their fight against hacktivism, even though Anonymous and others continue to cause carnage. Members of the LulzSec hacktivist group pleaded guilty to a number of charges in court last month, including LulzSec teen hackers Ryan Cleary and Jake Davis.

Are you a security boff? Try our quiz!