a 17-year-old hacker taken into police custody

He is a 17-year-old hacker, residing in the Paris region, who is believed to be behind one of the biggest hacks of his generation. As a reminder, between October 8 and 21, 2024, the telephone operator Free was the victim of massive data theft: 19,192,948 customer accounts, 5.11 million IBAN detailsbut also the victims’ first and last names, telephone numbers, postal addresses, dates of birth, email addresses, etc. At the time, the pirates distributed a large sample of 100,000 IBANs to prove their theft and lure potential buyers. The transaction probably ended up not going through, after a dispute between the two hackers behind the theft.

An operation carried out on Telegram

Three months later, a suspect was arrested in Breuillet in Essonne. After a search of his home, the 17-year-old suspect is suspected of having touched approximately €10,000 for the data auction, i.e. half of the final sum. According to information from Le Parisien, he would have quickly confessed, and could be brought before the courts this Wednesday.

The operation, carried out by police officers from the cyber-financial sub-directorate and the magistrate for the fight against cybercrime from the Paris public prosecutor’s office, should quickly be the subject of an official press release. The conclusion of the investigation was made possible thanks to the collaboration of the social network Telegram: last November, Free took legal action, and the Paris court ordered the company to communicate all the identification data it had. had to identify the hacker. The decision was heavily criticized, but it seems to have borne fruit.

A young but seasoned hacker

Despite his young age, this is not the hacker’s first attempt. Still according to information from our colleagues in Le Parisien, the suspect had already been arrested last year, in the investigation into the hacking of Sport 2000 brand datain June 2024. At the time, he had used the same pseudonym, and had been placed under judicial supervision. Enough to greatly facilitate research when investigating Free Mobile. He was also implicated in the attack on the BFMTV group’s social networks last March.

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