More than 19 million customers affected
The attack, revealed by Free at the end of October, enabled the theft of personal data of 19.2 million customers of the French operator and access provider, according to the hacker who had put this data up for sale on an online site . According to the decision, published online, Free decided to take legal action after a user contacted via Telegram “the president of the Iliad group” to try to obtain payment of a sum of 10 million euros in cryptocurrencies. The author of the blackmail then claimed the theft of Free customer data.
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At the end of September, the Telegram messaging service modified its rules of use to collaborate more with the justice system. “We have clarified that the IP addresses and mobile phone numbers of those who violate our rules may be provided to authorities in response to valid legal requests.”announced Pavel Durov, founder and boss of Telegram, after being indicted at the end of August, notably for “refusal to communicate the information necessary for interceptions authorized by law”.
IPTV providers also affected
This legal decision is not an isolated case. It is part of a broader context of the fight against illegal activities on Telegram, in particular concerning illegal IPTV. A large-scale operation, called “Corsaire Bleu”, was recently carried out by the Guardia Civil in Madrid to dismantle pirate networks exploiting the platform, according to the media Lemon Squeezer.
“Immediate actions”: the fight against illegal IPTV could intensify
It led to the arrest of a 37-year-old man, suspected of having managed an extension allowing the illegal distribution of content to 78,000 users. The financial damage linked to its activities was estimated at around 47 million euros. This intervention also made it possible to dismantle several illegal channels on Telegram, including “Cristal Azul”, “the most important streaming channel in Spain” according to the authorities.
An operation that would have been difficult to achieve without the help provided by the social network since the modification of its rules of use.
