'Mafiaboy' says he committed Yahoo hack

Teenage Canadian hacker 'Mafiaboy' has pleaded guilty to 56 charges of hacking, including last February's denial of service attacks which hit Yahoo, eBay and Amazon.com, among others.

Last month, having failed all his school courses bar PE, he was granted bail on condition he kept a job clearing tables at a local restaurant.

Commenting on the case, Corporal Gosselin, of the Canadian Royal Mounted Police (Mounties), said 'Mafiaboy', who is too young to be named, had boasted that the FBI would not catch him and later that the case would make him famous and earn him lots of money.

The FBI has estimated that the February denial of service attacks could have caused as much as $1.7m in damages, although the Mounties said they would be very surprised if the figure was that high.

Mafiaboy faces up to two years in jail in a sentence hearing scheduled for 17 and 18 April. Adults can be jailed for up to 10 years if convicted on the same charges.