He was one of the FBI’s most wanted hackers ten years ago. Suspected of having fomented a series of “PyLocky” ransomware attacks from his American prison, a 35-year-old Algerian was released Thursday evening by the Paris court on procedural grounds, after seven hours of a tumultuous hearing.
In a prisoner’s green uniform, Hamza Bendelladj appeared by videoconference from Safford prison in Arizona (southwest of the United States): then known under the pseudonym of “BX1”, he was sentenced in 2013 to fifteen years in prison. prison in the “SpyEye” computer virus case.
Appeared shortly after 3:00 p.m. on the screen in the courtroom, he was released at 10:30 p.m. In the meantime, the court will have barely touched on the merits of the case.
He risked 7 years in prison
In the summer of 2018, mass mailings targeted the Lyon court, three prison centers – Bourg-en-Bresse, Varennes-le-Grand (Saône-et-Loire) and Saran (Loiret) -, an association , two notarial offices and that of a bailiff, as well as the Banque Populaire.
In these emails: a link which, when activated, led to the download of the malware. The latter then encrypted files on the computer or server, displaying a notice demanding a ransom in cryptoassets.
None of the victims paid the ransom, but complaints were filed and, via technical investigations, the investigation went up to Hamza Bendelladj, who defends himself from any participation in the facts.
He was tried for attempted extortion, access and maintenance in automated data processing systems, obstructing their operation, as well as for fraudulent introduction and deletion of data. He faced seven years in prison and a fine of 100,000 euros.
Malware name issue
After a first postponement of the trial in May, My Raphaël Chiche and Jérémie Nataf immediately asked for a new postponement on Thursday, on the grounds that the defendant had not had access to the file and hardly been able to speak with his lawyers.
The court offered them to discuss with their client, which they did in the empty courtroom for 1h15, but the request for dismissal was rejected. The defense continued on two priority questions of constitutionality (QPC) and demanded the cancellation of the procedure, an argument still dismissed by the court.
Counsel then pleaded for a suspension of the trial, in order to have the documents translated. At around 9:00 p.m., the court rejected these conclusions and began to address the merits.
Quickly, however, the defendant said he was “confused” by the fact that the document which cited him in court referred to the software “Jobcrypter” and not “PyLocky”.
A simple “material error”, according to the prosecution, which concerned only two of the six offenses. Judging part of the facts would again infringe the rights of the defense, replied in substance Mes Chiche and Nataf. After a short suspension, the court finally ruled: for him, this defect in the citation should result in the release.
2023-08-31 23:20:19
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