A hacker talked about his exploits breaking into Army websites on a French TV show and was subsequently arrested.
It’s usually not a good idea to identify yourself as someone who committed a crime – especially not on national television. But that’s exactly what a man called “Carl” did when he appeared on the French show “Complément d’enquête” (“Further Investigation” in English) and demonstrated how he broke into computers controlled by the French Army and the Thales Group, an IT company that provides services for aerospace, defense, and security industries in France. Carl also claimed that he had purchased and sold credit card information online, some of which he sued to buy things for himself. After the show aired on February 28th, 2011, Thales filed a formal complaint with French authorities who were able to track down the hacker’s real identity and location. Police arrested Carl on April 7th.
The producers of “Complément d’enquête” said that they did not reveal their source, and they were not made aware of any investigation by the police. They only knew about that Carl had been apprehended because they had read reports in the press.
Ironically, the segment on “Complément d’enquête” profiled a new type of hacker – the hacktivist – who only commits such crimes for a purpose. Carl said that he was a member of Anonymous and, although that claim can’t be substantiated, a response to the broadcast by the hacker collective was not very positive.
“We are once again disappointed by your willingness to ignore reality. We do not recognize ourselves in this report,” the Anonymous statement said about the segment on “Complément d’enquête.” “We are disappointed that you did not emphasize more the values we stand for, such as freedom of expression.”
“Carl” is charged with organized fraud, unauthorized access and data theft.
Source: Softpedia
Published: Apr 18, 2011 10:45 pm