Case against alleged FBI hacker from Dundee thrown out.
A Dundee man who allegedly attempted to crash the FBI website in a cyber attack has had his case dismissed by a sheriff.
Coray Tierney was scheduled to stand trial in connection with a series of internet attacks on banks and the US-based crime bureau. However, the Crown failed to bring the needed expert witnesses to testify against the 23-year-old.
The case against Mr Tierney was dismissed pro loco et tempore (for the place and time), which means it could be re-opened at a later date.
Fiscal depute Kate Scarborough told Dundee Sheriff Court that the case against Mr Tierney was principally based on a report from cybercrime experts. She requested that the trial be adjourned, stating that the expert couple were unavailable due to a once-a-year training session.
Solicitor Billy Watt, defending, contested the application, telling the court that the case had been hanging over his client for years. Mr Watt stated that this was the third motion to adjourn proceedings, and the previous two had been denied.
He further commented: “From my point of view, the report doesn’t take us anywhere and no witnesses have been cited from any of the companies listed as complainers.”
Denied hacking
Mr Tierney denied launching cyber attacks on various companies from his home between December 2021 and March 2023. He also denied hacking into large financial organisations like the Bank of Israel and HSBC.
And Tierney contested the accusation of “carrying out an unauthorised act in relation to a computer and did intend to, or were reckless as to whether it would enable him to impair the operation of the computer, and did distribute denial of service cyber attacks against computers belonging to named organisations.”
Mr Watt stated that there was nothing in the report from anyone who had supposedly been hacked.He stated, “They may be making an inference, but there is nothing to suggest how that hacking may or may not have occurred.”
“I take note of the nature of the claim, and the Crown does not appear to have cited witnesses from the FBI, Bank of Israel, or HSBC. “I have the cybercrime report, but I don’t believe it is particularly useful.
“It looks like some screenshots anyone could have taken off a computer screen.” Sheriff Mark O’Hanlon stated, “The report is now available, however there are no witnesses present because they are on a training session. “The Crown’s motion is denied.”
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