A Russian citizen suspected of hacking U.S. computer systems has been apprehended in Prague as the result of an international probe that involved the FBI and Interpol, Czech police said Tuesday.
A spokesperson for the Czech Republic’s federal police department said the arrested occurred in a Prague hotel on Oct. 5, but information about the raid was kept secret for nearly two weeks due to “tactical” concerns.
Authorities have identified the man only as as “Yevgeniy N.,” and said he was born in 1987, Reuters reported.
Multiple sources said the U.S. intends to have the man extradited to the U.S. so he can face federal charges connected to a previously disclosed data breach suffered by LinkedIn, ABC News reporter Mike Levine tweeted.
“We have heard reports of an arrest and are gathering more details at this time,” a spokesperson for the jobs site told Mashable on Wednesday.
LinkedIn acknowledged previously that the personal data of more than 100 million account holders was compromised in a 2012 security breach, Motherboard reported in May.
Without naming the LinkedIn breach, an U.S. official told Reuters on condition of anonymity that the man was sought in connection with an “older” case unrelated to the recent Russian-blamed cyberattacks endured by the Democratic National Committee and various organizations and individuals associated with the political party.
A judge in Prague has already ordered the Russian to be kept in custody pending the outcome of an as-yet-unscheduled extradition hearing, The New York Times reported.
“The notice said he was arrested based on a request from a court in the United States,” Alexey Kolmakov, a press secretary for the Russian embassy in Prague, said in a statement. “We insist the Russian citizen is handed to Russia.”
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.