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View Full Version : A Russian suspected of hacking has been arrested in Spain — and it may be connected to the US




Zippyjuan
04-10-2017, 12:15 PM
http://www.businessinsider.com/ap-alleged-russian-hacker-arrested-in-spain-at-us-request-2017-4


MADRID — A Russian accused of hacking has been detained in Spain at the request of American authorities, an arrest that set cybersecurity circles abuzz after a Russian broadcaster raised the possibility it was linked to the US presidential election.

Pyotr Levashov was arrested Friday in Barcelona on a US computer crimes warrant, according to a spokeswoman for Spain's National Court, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with court rules.

Such arrests aren't unusual — American authorities typically try to nab Russian cybercrime suspects abroad because of the difficulty involved in extraditing them from Russia — but Levashov's arrest drew immediate attention after his wife told Russia's RT broadcaster he was linked to America's 2016 election hacking.

RT quoted Maria Levashova as saying armed police stormed into their apartment in Barcelona overnight, keeping her and her friend locked in a room for two hours while they quizzed Levashov. She said that when she spoke with her husband on the phone from the police station, he told her he was told he had created a computer virus that was "linked to Trump's election win."

Levashova didn't elaborate, and the exact nature of the allegations weren't immediately clear. Malicious software is routinely shared, reworked, and repurposed, meaning that even a computer virus' creator may have little or nothing to do how the virus is eventually used.

juleswin
04-10-2017, 12:18 PM
http://www.businessinsider.com/ap-alleged-russian-hacker-arrested-in-spain-at-us-request-2017-4

When you say "election hacking" what are you talking about? The hacking of the DNC or something else?

Zippyjuan
04-10-2017, 12:21 PM
They don't specify but that would be my guess- and only a guess.

dannno
04-10-2017, 12:22 PM
Ed.

juleswin
04-10-2017, 12:24 PM
They don't specify but that would be my guess- and only a guess.


he told her he was told he had created a computer virus that was "linked to Trump's election win."

The virus? I thought it was the email that led to all the people in Ohio, Florida and all the other closely contested states to vote for Trump. Its weird how he or the wife never mentions the DNC emails.

Zippyjuan
04-10-2017, 12:30 PM
Spanish press report (google translation): http://politica.elpais.com/politica/2017/04/10/actualidad/1491817347_950293.html


Prison for Russian hacker accused of computer attacks during US elections

The intelligence services investigate alleged links between the Kremlin and the Trump team to defeat Clinton

Tensions between the United States and Russia have stopped in Spain. Carmen Lamela, judge of the National High Court, ordered the provisional admission into prison of Russian programmer Pyotr Levashov, arrested last week by Barcelona police , accused by the US of participating in a battery of computer attacks aimed at influencing Presidential elections. According to confirmed sources on Monday, the judge agreed to enter the jail of the arrested, after taking a statement by videoconference on Friday and waiting for the national court to decide now on his extradition to the North American country.

"The case is still under cover, so there is no information to give at this time," said Peter Carr, a spokesman for the criminal division of the US Justice Department, about the arrest of Levashov, a 36-year-old resident of St. Petersburg. The Russian was on vacation in the Catalan capital, where he had traveled with his wife and son. In fact, his wife explained to RT television that they were in an apartment in Barcelona when security forces stormed. "I talked to my husband on the phone when I was at the police station and he told me that he was told something about a virus that he supposedly had created and that was related to Trump's victory," said the woman's programmer, who detailed that the agents confiscated all The electronic devices that they found in the house.

Levashov's arrest came after US intelligence has accused Vladimir Putin of trying to help Donald Trump on his arrival at the White House. According to FBI investigators, Moscow organized an alleged hacking of Democratic Party computers, later filtering manipulated emails from Hillary Clinton and thus paving the way for Trump's victory. Russian officials, Putin and the US president have repeatedly denied having sealed any kind of pact to interfere in the presidential campaign.

The United States now has 40 days, since the arrest of Levashov, to present to the National Court the evidence supporting the charge against him. Last January, the Spanish police arrested another Russian computer programmer for another international detention order issued from the United States.

NorthCarolinaLiberty
04-10-2017, 12:52 PM
Hard to tell what is true when Zip posts something. One reason is fake news. The other is Zip posted it.

Brian4Liberty
04-10-2017, 01:13 PM
When you say "election hacking" what are you talking about? The hacking of the DNC or something else?

It's part of making the case for Trump to bomb Russia.

TheCount
04-10-2017, 05:21 PM
According to Ars, it's just running botnets, spamming, wire fraud, the like. Nothing about elections or hacking.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/04/feds-deliver-fatal-blow-to-botnet-that-menaced-world-for-7-years/