He appeared in court for the first time yesterday on what the judge, Nicholas
Evans, described as “serious allegations” under the Computer Misuse Act.
Mangham, dressed in a dark suit and white shirt, only spoke to confirm his
name and address. He did not enter a plea.
He was banned from having any access to computers, his iPhone or “any devices
capable of accessing the internet” while on bail. His lawyers argued the
conditions were similar to forcing him into “exile”
“The court feels it will be safer if there was no access to the internet which
will reduce the temptation for your son to go on to Facebook,” said Judge
Evans.
Matthew McCabe, prosecuting, told the court that Mangham had repeatedly tried
to hack into Facebook’s systems.
“This is what can be described as a hacking case,” he told the court.
“This involved considerable technical expertise to penetrate the security
programmes of Facebook.”
Specialist cyber crime police allege that between April 27 and May 9 Mangham
repeatedly hacked into a Facebook “puzzle server” using software he had
downloaded. The firm runs puzzle servers to allow computer programmers to
test their skills. Mangham allegedly knew that doing so could disrupt its
operation.
On April 29 he also tried to hack into a “mailman” server run by Facebook via
his web browser, police claim. Such systems are used by firms to run
internal and external email distribution lists.
Just over a week later he allegedly used software to “secure access to the
Facebook phabricator server”. Phabricator is a set of tools designed by the
firm to make it easier to build Facebook applications such as games. Mangham
had “made, adapted, supplied or offered to supply” a special software script
to hack into the Phabricator server, the court heard.
Despite the extent of the alleged intrusions, Facebook said its users’
personal data was not compromised.
“We have been working with Scotland Yard and the FBI as we take any attempt to
hack our internal systems extremely seriously,” a spokesman said.
Mangham was supported in court by his parents, Glenn and Eleanor, who sat in
the public gallery during his brief appearance.
The family declined to comment as they left court. Mangham is due to reappear
next month for a committal hearing.
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