Free cyberattack: 17-year-old arrested for hacking data of 19 million customers

© Shutterstock/Free/Lemon squeezer

Only 17 years old and already a seasoned hacker. At the end of 2024, Free Mobile was the victim of a large-scale cyberattack. The data of 19 million customers, including IBANs, were found in the wild. A few weeks later, the culprit seems to have been identified.

Ironically (Xavier Niel had also started his career in hacking), the culprit is a 17-year-old teenager from Breuillet in Essonne. He was taken into custody, according to Le Parisien.

Already known to the police for similar acts, the suspect allegedly confessed to investigators to having received 10,000 euros for the resale of the stolen data. A sum much lower than the 175,000 euros initially mentioned in this case which hit the headlines in October 2024.

A hack of unprecedented scale

The attack, which occurred between October 8 and 21, 2024, allowed the hacker to seize the personal information of 19.2 million of the operator's customers, including more than 5 million IBAN numbers. To prove the authenticity of his loot, the hacker published extracts of the stolen data on specialized forums before putting the entire database up for sale.

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Faced with the scale of the leak, Free quickly took legal action. The Paris judicial court then ordered the Telegram messaging service, used by the hacker to put pressure on the operator, to reveal the identity of the criminal. A decision that could have played a crucial role in the outcome of the investigation led by the cybercrime brigade (BL2C).

A young hacker with a worrying profile

The teenager arrested was not new to the crime. Already under judicial supervision, he is also implicated in the hacking of the data of four million Sport 2000 customers in June 2024, as well as in the attack on the Twitter accounts of the Altice group (RMC and BFMTV) in March of the same year.

This last case had particularly marked people's minds, anti-Russian messages having been published on the hacked accounts less than 24 hours after the deadly attack in Moscow which had left 137 victims. Investigations suggest possible links with the Epsilon cybercriminal group, whose founders had admitted to acting primarily for notoriety and profit.

After his 48-hour police custody, the young man is expected to appear in court.

• A 17-year-old teenager was arrested for the massive hacking of data from 19.2 million Free Mobile customers
• The suspect allegedly received 10,000 euros for the resale of the data and was already involved in other cyberattacks (Sport 2000, RMC/BFMTV)
• Potential links with the Epsilon cybercriminal group are mentioned by investigators

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