Spanish police have arrested a 19-year-old who they declare represents a nationwide safety menace as a result of magnitude of the cyber-attacks he has performed.
An investigation into Jose Luis Huertas (aka “Alcasec”) started after he allegedly hacked the nationwide council of the judiciary (CGPJ) and tax company, and stole information on over half one million Spaniards.
The person subsequently created a database full of this info, together with private information and checking account numbers, for onward sale to cyber-criminals, in keeping with the Spanish Nationwide Police (Policia Nacional).
Huertas can also be accused of constructing a de facto search engine – dubbed “Udyat,” or the “Eye of Horus” – to promote massive volumes of stolen information.
Learn extra on teenaged hackers: UK Teen Arrested on Laptop Misuse Prices.
The teenager even boasted in a YouTube video of accessing the non-public information of 90% of Spaniards, in keeping with the police. Though the determine could have been an exaggeration, the Policia Nationwide claimed that the quantity of knowledge stolen by Huertas was so important that it made him a menace to nationwide safety.
Officers claimed that he led a lifetime of luxurious funded by this cyber-criminality, together with occurring costly holidays, visiting high-end eating places and carrying luxurious manufacturers.
Huertas allegedly laundered the proceeds of crime via cryptocurrency mixer providers, though specialist investigators have been nonetheless in a position to hint among the funds.
When officers searched Huertas’s house and different premises, they seized a big quantity of money, paperwork, digital media, a bike and a high-end automobile.
Teenaged cyber-criminals are extra widespread than one would possibly suspect. Final yr two British youngsters have been charged with hacking offenses in relation to the notorious Lapsus$ extortion group. A teen was additionally behind the much-publicized 2015 TalkTalk information breach.
Final yr the UK’s Nationwide Crime Company (NCA) claimed that kids as younger as 9 have been in a position to launch DDoS assaults due to available on-line providers.
