FBI Arrests Russian Hacker Allegedly Involved In Hacking 112 Million LinkedIn Accounts
Police in the Czech Republic have arrested a Russian hacker for his suspected involvement in a massive 2012 cyber attack against LinkedIn. LinkedIn had been working with the FBI to track down the individuals responsible for the data breach, which exposed hashed passwords from over 100 million user accounts that were later offered for sale on the "dark web."
LinkedIn initially acknowledged the security breach four years ago, though at the time it didn't say how many people were affected by it. Then this past May, a hacker was found attempting to sell LinkedIn account credentials belonging to 117 million users for 5 bitcoins. Those were the accounts that were compromised back in 2012.
"We are thankful for the hard work and dedication of the FBI in its efforts to locate and capture the parties believed to be responsible for this criminal activity," LinkedIn said in a statement.
With LinkedIn's help, the FBI was able to track down and locate the 27-year-old suspect who so far has only been identified as Yevgeniy N. He was arrested earlier this month at a restaurant inside a Prague hotel. He's said to have collapsed during the arrest and was rushed to a hospital in the vicinity, though it's not clear what ailment, if any, was discovered.
While the arrest brings the matter one step closer to justice, the Russian government said it will try to block the extradition.
"We don’t accept U.S. policy of imposing its extraterritorial jurisdiction on all countries," Alexei Vladimirovich Kolmakov, a spokesman with the Russian Embassy in Prague, told ABC News. "We insist that the detained Russian citizen is transferred to Russia."
The arrest and subsequent statement came just days after U.S. officials publicly pointed the finger at the Russian government for hacking potentially damaging emails to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, which were released by WikiLeaks.
LinkedIn initially acknowledged the security breach four years ago, though at the time it didn't say how many people were affected by it. Then this past May, a hacker was found attempting to sell LinkedIn account credentials belonging to 117 million users for 5 bitcoins. Those were the accounts that were compromised back in 2012.
"We are thankful for the hard work and dedication of the FBI in its efforts to locate and capture the parties believed to be responsible for this criminal activity," LinkedIn said in a statement.
With LinkedIn's help, the FBI was able to track down and locate the 27-year-old suspect who so far has only been identified as Yevgeniy N. He was arrested earlier this month at a restaurant inside a Prague hotel. He's said to have collapsed during the arrest and was rushed to a hospital in the vicinity, though it's not clear what ailment, if any, was discovered.
While the arrest brings the matter one step closer to justice, the Russian government said it will try to block the extradition.
"We don’t accept U.S. policy of imposing its extraterritorial jurisdiction on all countries," Alexei Vladimirovich Kolmakov, a spokesman with the Russian Embassy in Prague, told ABC News. "We insist that the detained Russian citizen is transferred to Russia."
The arrest and subsequent statement came just days after U.S. officials publicly pointed the finger at the Russian government for hacking potentially damaging emails to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, which were released by WikiLeaks.
