Michael Malakata

Alleged e-mail 'bomber' faces trial after ruling

LONDON -- A teenager who allegedly crashed a former employer's server by sending a torrent of junk e-mail, a practice known as mail bombing, is due to stand trial after a British appeals court rejected a lower-court ruling that the incident didn't violate the U.K.'s Computer Misuse Act.

David Lennon, 18, faces up to five years in prison on a charge of unauthorized modification of a computer. The case comes amid calls for revisions to the Computer Misuse Act that would add more specific language to address denial-of-service attacks.

In early 2004, Lennon allegedly used a program called Avalanche to launch a denial-of-service attack that crashed the e-mail server at Domestic & General Group PLC, a London-based company that provides warranties for home appliances and other products.