LinkedIn: Arrested Russian suspect was involved in 2012 hack

According to LinkedIn, a recently arrested suspect was involved in the hack that took place at the company in 2012. The Russian man was arrested early this month in the Czech capital Prague.

Reuters news agency writes that the man, Yevgeni N., had already been arrested on October 5. The Czech police only released a brief statement about the arrest this week. A police spokesman told the New York Times that this was for “tactical reasons.” On Wednesday, LinkedIn released a statement, in which the company states that the man was involved in the 2012 hack, in which the data of 117 million accounts had been stolen.

The company says it has remained actively involved in the FBI’s investigation after the hack. In addition, LinkedIn would be “grateful for the hard work the FBI has done to track down and arrest the suspect responsible for these criminal activities,” Reuters writes. A judge would now consider whether the suspect will be extradited to the US. Russia wants to oppose extradition, the news agency added.

The country wants the man to be handed over to Russia. Reuters writes based on information from two US government officials that the Russian has not been arrested because of the recent hacks on US political organizations. The man is said to have been arrested following a request from Interpol. After his arrest, he became unwell and fainted, after which he was taken to a hospital.

After the LinkedIn hack in 2012, it initially appeared as if data of 6.5 million users had been stolen. In May, the hack was revealed to be much larger, when the data of 117 million LinkedIn users was put up for sale for a sum of five bitcoins, currently about $2,875.