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considering hackers and their behavioural patterns. Hackers are not, of course, all autistic; in fact very few of them are (although some celebrated ones, such as Gary McKinnon, wanted in the United States for hacking into the Pentagon, have been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome). But they do appear to conform to many of the clinical observations recorded by Professor Baron-Cohen of personalities who sit quite far down the 'male' end of the spectrum.

With further research, this could mean that it will be possible to identify hacker personality types among children who are still at school. In this way, peers and mentors could encourage their skills while, at the same time, offering them ethical guidance so that their abilities can be channelled in positive directions. The word 'hacker' tends to carry pejorative overtones. But the capacity to hack is in fact an asset, both personal and societal. Computers and networks will never be safe if they are not protected by advanced hackers. Some such individuals are already working to that end. In my experience, 90 per cent of the hackers involved in criminal activities expressed a powerful desire to work within the licit security industry - and, even with a criminal conviction, they should surely be given the chance.

Adewale Taiwo, aka Freddybb

On 1st January 2009 Adewale Taiwo was sentenced to four years' imprisonment by Hull Crown Court for conspiracy to defraud between June 2004 and February 2008. He had pleaded guilty to the previous November to one count, having already admitted to defrauding just under £600,000 from bank accounts around the world. The judge recommended that, on completion of his sentence, he be deported to Nigeria.

With time discounted for good behaviour, Taiwo was due for release on 29th August 2010. Two weeks earlier he had appeared in court in Grimsby, across the Humber estuary from Hull. This was a hearing stipulated by Britain's Proceeds of Crime Act, one of Tony Blair's rare sensible amendments to the criminal-justice system, which enables the state to recover assets from criminals. It was a farcical end to a serious case. The prosecutor had mislaid a key file, triggering an unex- pected reaction from the bearded Judge Graham Robinson, whose initial good humour quickly turned sour. He announced that he was

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