The creators of the Lecpetex software, which a few days ago was the main topic for almost all of the Greek media, were released with the sole condition of a ban on leaving the country and no other restrictive condition! Under strict secrecy, yesterday at 11.30 in the morning, the competent prosecutor, after two hours of hearing the young people, imposed as the sole restrictive condition a ban on leaving the country, until the trial takes place and the evaluation of the findings/digital evidence is completed.
SecNews has, over the past few days, identified numerous inaccuracies in other media outlets as well as a "witch hunt" regarding the details of the case, and in this article, we clarify details of this extremely important case.
According to the court report and with valid information cross-checked by SecNews,the reasoning of the competent judicial officerswas based on the assessment of the very high level of training possessed by the two young men, combined with the fact that there was not the slightest financial benefit from the actions attributed to them.
Additionally, it is worth noting that the young people were particularly cooperative with the authorities, specifying their actions in every detail. People who know the specifics of the case, tell SecNews that the creation of the two young people (Lecpetex) was created purely for research purposes but in the process escaped the control of its creators , resulting in it spreading itself among Facebook users without their knowledge and without their being able to stop it. At the center of the complaints were two companies, the Facebook management company and the well-known software company Microsoft.
The authorities' investigation began about 3 months ago, along with the lifting of the secrecy of communications after massive complaints made to the authorities by Facebook and Microsoft , which was trying (unsuccessfully, as we estimate) to analyze the software, something that was not possible even for the most powerful programmers in the world!
The judicial officers treated the case with extreme caution, a case unprecedented in Greek history, fully recognizing the intentions of the 2 young creators of Lecpetex and the fact that they had not obtained the slightest financial benefit. In fact, the same authoritative information states that even the personal data of users that were identified were not active and could not be used to extract information. This easily leads to the conclusion that the findings likely concern a creation of the young people for testing purposes (demo/test accounts) and not active user data. Of course, this remains to be confirmed/determined by the investigation of the digital evidence that is already being carried out by the Hellenic Police's forensics department.
However, the news is particularly important in another dimension. According to EXCLUSIVE information from a report by SecNews, which we are reporting with all reservations, the Cybercrime Investigation Department is already providing its services to 2 former hackers who were identified in a previous case about 1 year ago. The Cybercrime Investigation Department, utilizing the possibilities and controls offered by the law, is collaborating extensively with the two hackers within specific frameworks,in order to increase its knowledge of IT security and to be informed about what is happening in cyberspace and the methodologies used by hackers.
[quote]So the 2 former hackers instead of appearing twice a month at their local police station or being remanded in custody (ed. something that we consider to be absolutely wrong) appear at the Directorate of Internal Revenue!!! Besides, these intelligent people have no place in a prison environment (with murderers, rapists and fraudsters), something that it seems that the authorities and judicial officers have now understood and take into account, especially during the interrogation or administration of justice stage.[/quote]
Such news comes to add a different dimension to the case of the creators of Lecpetex, but also more generally to the treatment of similar cases in Greece, since it constitutes a particularly original and effective approach.
With such collaborations, the landscape in dealing with cybercrime completely changes and there is a substantial separation of cybercrime that aims at illegal enrichment and money laundering from clear cases that do not have a criminal dimension (misdemeanor) and are strictly within the context of research and curiosity or increasing knowledge (such as the case of the creators of Lecpetex).
[box_info]Besides, it is unacceptable to send hackers to prison while they can provide their services in Greek territory. We believe that the example of the pioneering D.DIE should be followed by other services responsible for the security of critical infrastructures, so that under the necessary conditions and with the necessary legal guarantees, they can increase their knowledge base.[/box_info]
It is already a standard tactic/practice abroad for hackers, these highly intelligent people, to serve their sentences not in a reformatory or prison, but rather by utilizing all the necessary legal security measures in close cooperation with public/state bodies or law enforcement authorities. At some point, we will have to become a civilized country, and face the issues in their true dimensions.
This seems to be what the Cybercrime Prosecution Directorate is also pursuing in the Lecpetex case, following foreign trends, pioneering and often being a precursor to developments or even changes in laws of the past, which have no application in modern reality.
