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"He had carried out impressive hits such as the one on Interpol, so drawing the spotlight of investigating authorities on himself was only natural." This remark, carrying recognition, was made by a lecturer at the Technical University of Larissa, Vassilis Vlachos and concerns an 18-year-old hacker from Aghios Dimitrios. He was announced a star and is a hot topic not only among Greek but also American and French authorities.

Is his case unprecedented for the Greek reality? "What is exceptional is the young age of the offender and his arrest. Greek hackers have carried out massive hits dating back in time including the one in the  CERN experiment, which did not, however, encompass criminal activity", said Vasilis Vlachos.

It is a common opinion that the 18 years old attacker will be put in use as IT systems security supervisor, following the fate of his colleague Kevin Mitnick, arguably the most famous hacker taken into custody, who later moved on the other side.

"I don’t think this will happen,” says Vassilis Vlachos, "it used to happen before. The world of information systems is utterly different. Such actions are seen as purely criminal activities and companies avoid cooperating with the people responsible."

"It is assumed that our country hosts great admiration for such phenomena,” says psychologist Asimina Hristopoulou. "One reason is that such actions are not perceived as crimes or theft, which we usually associate with material goods", underlines Hristopulu.

Adding, "And of course, what also matters is that, all of us use computers, but only few can do what the hacker in question did,” she concluded: "phenomena associated with computer addiction increase and will continue to grow in the future."

Crime and extradition

"No specific changes in legislation are required with regard to internet-related crimes," was Stiliyanou Konstantinos’s comment, a PhD in Law of Telecommunications and the Internet.

"Crimes from the Criminal Code that he has allegedly committed are as follows: Article 370 Β, relating to penetration of computer data or programs, considered confidential, Article 370 G, relating to the illegal copying or use of computer programs and illegal access to computer data, and Article 386 Α, relating to computer fraud. These articles do not relate solely to the internet. They were added to the Penal Code in 1988 and relate to telecommunication networks in general.

"And vice versa," adds Konstantinos Stiliyanu, "in civil cases relating to copyright issues or freedom of expression, for example, legislation is to be reviewed, taking the internet into account."

"It should be noted," Stiliyanu adds, "that in the case of the 18-year-old hacker the Greek Criminal Code applies even if his “victims” are only individuals and companies from abroad. the united states are likely to have a legal interest in a trial against him if any American companies fell among his targets. the extradition treaty between the to states is to determine weather he will be sued by both. Should the matter not be settled in the extradition treaty, Greece holds the sovereign right to extradite him or not."

War with malware

The world of hackers and attacks over the Internet has evolved internationally to an extend which inevitably brings up the issue of corporate mergers and… corporate responsibility. “A few months the information emerged on the merger of Zeus and Spy-Εye, which are the two most famous malware programs,"says Vlahos. Their prices vary between several hundred and several thousand dollars. "These programs have become quite convenient to use, offer warranties, technical support and service, etc. "

The 18 years old hacker has rejected all accusations brought against him.

"I'm not a hacker. Amazon transferred money to my account," he said. "I've never drained bank accounts, some of my Internet Marketing activities turned profitable. My fund were acquired through bank transfers from Amazon and Google, for advertisements I posted on my clients’ websites. With regard to the 130 empty cards found in me, many of them are magnetic card to unlock the rooms in hotels or blank cards for my clients’ customer transactions with companies."

According to "Vima" newspaper this was contained in the defendant’s speech on Thursday afternoon when the arrested on Tuesday 18 years old Aleksander P. was interrogated following accusations of cyber-attacks by foreign investigators, as well as of braking into the accounts of unsuspecting citizens. The18-year-old was released on bail for the amount of € 5,000 under restrictive conditions.

There were no questioned about "hacking"

His yesterday’s defense speech only applied to his financial transactions, and the possession of small quantities of explosive material. He was not yet questioned on the issues of attacking the electronic systems of Interpol and U.S. law enforcement agencies, which are dated back to the period 2008-2009, since the digital testing of his computers in the criminal laboratories of  the Hellenic Police has not been completed yet. However, when asked by the investigator informally about them he denied to have participated in the organization.

18-year-old Alexander pointed out that he has been dealing with computers since childhood but had never committed anything illegal. As stated, his main activity has been the development of websites for various clients, however, not specified in his speech. Moreover, the 18 years old hacker assured that the money found on him - around 8000 euros – were withdrawn from his personal accounts a few days earlier.

As he explained, the amounts in these accounts were transferred by multinational companies that advertised on his customers’ websites. The young man presented the invoice for the transfer of funds worth 220 euros sent by Amazon on May 23, 2011. He also forwarded a copy of his check books to he investigator.

"I never manufactured cards”

He also denied "financing his mother financed with large amounts of money," as alleged by police sources. He stressed that his mother is a teacher of English and Romanian languages ​​and hence the main income of his family.

As for the cards found on him, he denied the committing of any criminal act and insisted that no device related to the production of credit cards and the embossing names on them was ever found in his house.

Two bank cards were found on the arrested young man, two of Citibank and one of the National Bank of Greece, with different names on them. In the file, however, the responses of the two banks that issued the cards were applied, stating that they were cancelled in 2004 and 2009, and no complaints from their owners have ever been filed.

Regarding the small quantity of explosive material, the young man said that it was a firework he intended to use during the Easter holidays.

The 18-year-old’s solicitor Eleni Moustaki said: "My client denies all allegations and has presented evidence confirming his statement."