Dutch National Criminal Investigation Service arrests 20-year old hacker
The High-Tech Crime Team of the Dutch National Criminal Investigation Service arrested a 20-year old in the Dutch city of Maastricht Tuesday evening, on charges of hacking the Internet sites of two US-based computer game producers. He is also suspected of stealing credit card details that were used for online poker games and Internet purchases.
The suspect is reported to have stolen a copy of the game Enemy Territory: Quake War (ETQW) from a server belonging to Activision, a company based in Los Angeles, in 2006. Quake was still under development at the time. This popular computer game involves multiple players competing to eliminate as many hostile aliens as possible. Images of the illegally downloaded game were put on the Internet. The computer game producer hired a private investigation firm that established contact with MaddoxX, the suspected intruder’s nickname, on the Internet. The company could have incurred 40 million dollars in damage had the game been put on the market illegally. The investigation revealed that the hacker also had access to other segments of the company network.
Stichting BREIN, a Dutch foundation involved in fighting online and offline piracy, subsequently filed a police report in the Netherlands on behalf of the computer game manufacturer. The US-based software company Valve Software Corporation also filed a police report in connection with the hacking of its computer system in 2007. Upon gaining entry to the system, the hacker is reported to have downloaded customer information and credit card details, and publicized evidence for these acts on the Internet.
The investigation by the High-Tech Crime Team of the Dutch National Criminal Investigation Service of the National Police Services Agency (KLPD) revealed that the suspect claimed to have the details of 50,000 credit cards. He reportedly used these details to place Internet orders for laptops, monitors and MP3 players. The credit card details had apparently been stolen from an online ticketing agency in England. The theft could have caused an estimated 20 million dollars in damage.
A search of the 20-year old suspect’s parental home resulted in the confiscation of a computer, records and a carbine. The young man was taken into custody in Rotterdam today.
(Source: Dutch National Police - KLPD)
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