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Palin hacker 'not a hacker'

The university student who compromised the internet security of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin by breaking into her email accounts should not be referred to as a hacker, according to his lawyers.

A motion to prevent prosecutors from referring to the University of Tennessee student as a hacker is among court documents filed in his defence in the case that grabbed the world's attention.

According to the attorneys, David Kernell, 20, should not be referred to as a hacker because they are "dangerous criminals" unlike their client, reports the Register.

"Because of the negative connotations evoked by these terms, there is a significant danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, and misleading the jury," the motion states.

"Hackers are commonly portrayed as dangerous criminals who are involved in malicious conduct such as credit card fraud, stealing, intentional disruption of legitimate activities and causing economic damages."

The incident in September highlighted the need to protect one's personal information online by putting in place strong passwords after the student boasted of how easy it was to break into the accounts.

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