Computer hacker pleads guilty to mass hospital infection.

20-year-old Christopher Maxwell, from California, USA has pleaded guilty to charges that he launched an attack in January 2005 which struck hard at Northwest Hospital and Medical Center in Seattle. The attack is said to have shut down computers in the facility's intensive care unit and prevented doctors' pagers from working properly.

Maxwell caused approximately 75,000 British pounds worth of damage by infecting military computers, as well as those belonging to the hospital, when he and two juveniles unleashed malware designed to install adware on infected PCs. The three are said to have been paid more than 100,000 US dollars through the resulting advertising commission revenue. "Creating a zombie network, or botnet, isn't a harmless game. In this case a hospital network was affected, and patients' welfare

Investigators discovered that Maxwell's botnet also damaged US military computer systems at the 5th Signal Command in Manheim, Germany, and at the Directorate of Information Management in Fort Carson, Colorado.

Maxwell, who pleaded guilty to committing computer fraud and intentionally damaging a protected computer, could face a significant jail sentence and a free of more than 250,000 US dollars, according to the office of the US Attorney.

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