In court documents released to the paper under an application to the Victorian County Court, which include a transcript of Assange's 1996 pre-sentencing hearing for 24 computer-related offences, it is alleged that Assange accessed a Northern Telecom server.
The Herald Sun, meanwhile, quotes the prosecutor as saying that "in over 100 of the computers, (Mr Assange) had root access to those computers, which meant he didn't need any further password – he had the key to the door, if you like. He could have gone anywhere that he liked and he was in those systems for quite some months before the systems administrators detected his presence", he added.
According to the ANI newswire, when Northern Telecom administrators found Assange's presence, the WikiLeaks founder reportedly "watched on as they attempted to catch him out – at one point forcing the exclusion of an administrator from the network who got very close to catching him."
In court, Assange’s defence lawyer, Paul Galbally, told the judge that the computers that were used "were really just old-fashioned, small computers."
The judge in the case, Leslie Ross, is reported to have said that he was satisfied that Assange had not used his skills for personal profits.
"But after being sentenced, Assange told Justice Ross that claims made by the prosecution in his sentencing were false: 'I feel a great misjustice has been done and I would like to record the fact that you have been misled by the prosecution'", noted the newswire.