Hacker who stole Tony Blair's address book faces prison

A hacker who stole private information belonging to former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has pleaded guilty at London’s Southwark Crown Court and faces a prison sentence for conspiracy and computer crime offences.

18-year-old Junaid Hussain, of Birmingham, broke into the online account of Blair aide Katie Kay and stole information including Tony Blair's address and phone book - containing email addresses, phone numbers and postal addresses for Blair's family, friends and MPs.

Members of Team Poison, who like to use the keyboard-challenging moniker "TeaMp0isoN", published the hacked information on the internet a year ago, sparking security fears about the safety of the former Prime Minister, his friends and family.

Hussain, who used the online handle "Trick", also admitted making more than 100 hoax calls to the UK's national anti-terrorism telephone hotline, preventing genuine callers from getting through.

Hussain is scheduled to be sentenced on July 27, and was told by Judge Peter Testar that he shouldn't be surprised if he receives a prison sentence.

The authorities are said to be continuing to investigate other possible offences committed by members of the Team Poison hacking gang.

_{Image of Tony Blair by Sougata Ghosh / Creative Commons.}