Is the noose tightening around the hacker behind the cyberattack targeting Free? This is the whole meaning of the recent decision of the Paris judicial court, published this Monday, November 18. In this judgment, the Telegram messaging service was ordered to reveal the hacker's data, at the request of Free. The Paris judicial court in fact ordered the platform, on November 12, to communicate the identification data of the seller of the base. The judgment, spotted by digital specialist lawyer Alexandre Archambault on X, was published on the website of the Court of Cassation.
We learned that the hacker had contacted Free to try to obtain payment of a ransom. The latter would have sent according to the operator “ four messages under the name of [Z] [L]three on the platform (…) » dedicated to the exchange with subscribers for their personal data (called DOP) and one addressed to the president of the Iliad group “Mr. [J] » (visibly, Xavier Niel), « via Telegram email » – published judgments are always anonymized.
Also read: Data leaks: can Free hackers use your IBAN to pay for their purchases?
A ransom of 10 million demanded
It all started from a message received on October 21, reports Free. A few days after the cyberattack which affected some 20 million of its customers, the operator received a request on its DOP platform from a person who “ threatens to fraudulently use the hacked data if a sum of 10 million euros is not paid to him in cryptocurrency “. The same message is addressed “ to M. [J] », Details the judgment.
Also read: Data leaks: can Free hackers use your IBAN to pay for their purchases?
Free then filed a complaint, while applying to the summary judge (who rules on urgent requests) to order Telegram to provide various information such as “ the civil identity of the user, the assigned IP address, the identifier used, (…) and the telephone number at the origin of the communication ».
Since the arrest of platform manager Pavel Durov in Paris, Telegram has committed to better collaborating with the justice system on its requests to identify users who are breaking the law.
Also read: Pavel Durov, the boss of Telegram, indicted: the legal implications of an unprecedented case
In this case, the right to data protection deemed less important than the right to privacy
In the meantime, the hacker would have put the stolen data up for sale on the dark web, with nearly five million IBANs from the operator's customers. Was this data acquired by other cybercriminals? Difficult to say since another hacker, presumably involved in the cyberattack, claimed that subscriber data had never been sold to the highest bidder.
Also read: Free Hack: was the data really sold? A pirate sows doubt
The judgment of the Paris judicial court could help to see things more clearly. On November 12, the summary judge chose to respond favorably to Free's requests. He believes in fact that “ the right to data protection here legitimately gives way to the right to respect the private life of Free and Free mobile subscribers whose personal and banking data have been misused ».
Also read: Free Hack: what to do if your data has been hacked?
As a result, he orders Telegram “ to communicate to the Free and Free mobile companies, for the purposes of criminal proceedings, (and this) within 48 hours of notification of the order, all the identification data of the person who created the account messaging “. It is not known whether Telegram, known for never responding to requests from French and European courts before the arrest of its leader, agreed to respond to the request.
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Judgment of the Paris judicial court of November 12, 2024
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