Hacker arrested after showing off skills on TV

Sneak often has a lot of respect for hackers (ethical ones mind, not nasty ones) for their intelligence and computing skills, but one French hacker has shown he may not be the smartest cookie on the web after bragging of his skills on national TV, according to Softpedia.com.

The hacker, known enigmatically as 'Carl', bragged - and demonstrated to a national audience - how he broke into the systems of the French army and Thales Group, a company that provides systems and services for the defence and security markets.

He also said he sells and uses credit card and bank account data to buy things for himself, in another move that the authorities must have just loved hearing broadcast into their living rooms.

'Carl' obviously didn't realise that TV is a medium in which most people are well versed, particularly major nation states and huge multinational IT companies, and so was rather quickly subjected to an investigation into his claims.

He was soon picked up by the authorities, who discovered a wealth of compromised credit card and bank account data in the process, and he is now in jail awaiting trial.

The producers of the show, Complément d'enquête (Further investigation), said they did not give any information to the authorities so it's not fully known how they tracked him down, but then appearing on national TV must make it a touch easier.

Still, maybe the authorities will ask him to join them in their fight against cyber criminals, just so long as they keep him well away from any TV shows to stop him telling everyone how they track potential suspects. Zut Alors!

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• Topics
• Communications
• Security
• Hacking