An ethical hacker who discovered a security vulnerability in Magyar Telekom’s IT systems during April 2018 is currently being investigated by the Hungarian Prosecution Service after the company filed a complaint and faces 8 years in prison, local Hungarian media reports.
The security expert announced Magyar Telekom of the security issues affecting their systems and, although he met with company officials and they mentioned a possible collaboration, nothing materialized.
Following these events, he continued probing Magyar Telekom’s systems which led to the discovery of yet another vulnerability that would allow potential attackers to “access all public and retail mobile and data traffic and monitor the servers of the companies served by T-Systems,” says Hungary Today.
Indictment documents incomplete according to defense
The Hungarian telecommunications company’s security team detected this second intrusion and reported to the authorities that their systems have been breached by an unknown attacker.
napi.hu says that “the company stated that Magyar Telekom has very serious internal systems and processes to ensure that attacks are prevented and prevented. Furthermore, they emphasize that their systems are constantly monitored to take the necessary measures immediately if necessary.”
The trial is already ongoing and according to the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU/TASZ), the NGO which defends the defendant white hat, the indictment lacks multiple details needed to clarify the circumstances of the events “and in general, nothing that would be necessary to present the lawful accusation in detail.”
Hungary Today says that the indictment documents issued by the Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok County Prosecutor’s Office accuse the man of breaking into Magyar Telekom’s database and committing the “crime of disturbing a public utility”.
They added that the Prosecutor’s Office offered the man an unusual plea bargain: if he admits he is guilty, the court will suspend the sentence for two years. If not, he may have to serve five years in jail. After refusing the plea bargain, the Prosecutor’s Office upgraded the crime in the indictment, now accusing the man of disrupting the operation of a public utility. As a result, he can be sentenced to up to eight years in prison.
HCLU previously helped defend other Hungarian white hats
HCLU further commented the case declaring that white hats shouldn’t be prosecuted given that they are providing a service that, in the end, helps the entire society. On the other hand, the Hungarian Prosecutor’s Office argues that the defendant
Magyar Telekom issued a separate statement saying that the complaint was filed because the ethical hacker launched new attacks against their systems and did not cooperate with their own investigation.
They also highlighted the fact that the intrusion and the vulnerabilities discovered in their systems did not impact their customers’ data or their communications networks.
This is not the first time the HCLU successfullt defended Hungarian ethical hackers. During 2017, the NGO represented an 18-year-old man which was accused of hacking the online ticketing system of the Budapest Transport Center (BKK) and another one who was indicted for misuse of personal data and hacking following an intrusion within the National Tax and Customs Administration’s systems.
Thank you for the tip MalwareHunterTeam
Related Articles:
Linux Kernel Spectre Protection Changes to Boost App Performance
Dell Introduces Dell SafeGuard and Response Solutions To Fight Evolving Threats
Theoretical Ransomware Attack Could Lead to Global Damages Says Report
DNS DDoS Attack Protections to be Forcefully Enabled for Non-Compliant Sites
Windows System Guard Launch Causing Blank Boot Screens in UEFI PCs
Bleeping Computer® is a community of individuals of all ages who are here to learn new information, to help each other, and to help their fellow peers. With that in mind, we ask that all members please follow these simple rules in order to create an atmosphere where everyone feels comfortable.
The rules are as follows:
- All information and instructions given within these forums is to be used at your own risk. By following or using any of this information you give up the right to hold BleepingComputer.com liable for any damages.
- All the forums are categorized by topics. Please post your questions or messages in the appropriate forum.
- Answers to many of the questions you may have can be found in the Tutorials Section, Glossary, or from other posts on the message boards. Please use the search functions, at the top right of each page, to find your answers. If you are still having problems, feel free to post your question.
- All help must be provided in the forums or on our Virus Removal forum, you are not allowed to request assistance for the same computer at another malware removal forum. This is to prevent conflicting advice from causing issues with your computer or making it unbootable.
- This forum has the right to request alteration or deletion of any offensive post. If this is not done in a prompt manner, the Staff will delete the material themselves.
- Posts may be deleted for any reasons the forum administrators deem reasonable.
- Pictures may be posted as long as they are not explicit, offensive, or copyrighted.
- Advertisements, of any sort, are not permitted. This includes member names and links to commercial sites in Signatures, or in posts. You also may not solicit sales for Newegg through the use of promotion or coupon codes. If you would like to advertise on our site, contact us here.
- In order to reduce spam on the site, you will not be able to add a signature to your account until you reach 25 posts. Signatures are limited to 5 lines or 2000 characters; whichever comes first. If your signature is larger than the allotted size given or deemed unacceptable, you will be requested to adjust your signature. Failure to comply will result in the removal of your signature.
- Only one image per signature. Images in signatures must also be no larger than 500 pixels wide X 90 pixels high. If you have more than one image you will be requested to remove one. If this is not done in a timely manner the staff has the right to modify your signature to abide by these rules.
- Any links in signatures or profiles cannot be commercial in nature or they will be removed by BleepingComputer. You may not put links in your signature soliciting donations unless you are in certain member groups. Those member groups that are allowed will be expressly notified. If you have a personal website or off-site help resource, that is more than fine, but you can not sell products or services through your signature. Multiple links to the same site, unless for a very specific reason, are not permitted in a signature and will be removed.
- Avatars must be in good taste. This means no vulgar or violent images, pornography, or profanity. Avatars that are found to be inappropriate will be removed at the discretion of the staff.
- Linking to hate, anti-Semitic, racist, pornography, warez, or other illegal sites is not permitted.
- Links in your signature must be unobtrusive and can not use formatting so that attention is brought to them.
- Member’s display names can not be email addresses. This rule is in place to protect you from spam bots who will pick up your email address and spam you.
- Members may have only one account on this forum. There is no need to have more than one.
- Any impersonation of a user from these forums, in any mode of communication, is strictly prohibited and will result in a banning.
- Linked and locked topics are pruned regularly to reduce page clutter. If you have a question about where your topic went, please PM a Moderator or Administrator before starting a new topic asking where it went, or posting a duplicate of the original topic. We will be happy to provide you with a link to the new location, or a reason why it was locked and/or removed.
Violation of any of these rules can lead to a banning of the user from our Web Site and a deletion of their account. The consequences will be determined by the Staff on a case by case basis.
When posting you agree that the administrators and the moderators of this forum have the right to modify, delete, edit or close any topic, signature, account, or profile data at any time that they see fit. If you have any questions concerning this, please do not start a new thread, but rather private message to an administrator or moderator.