Political hacking. The mailbox of a French MP was hacked a few weeks ago by a hacker. The latter put the credentials and access up for sale on a darkweb forum on October 18, Numerama revealed on Wednesday.
Access to the mailbox was offered for 150 dollars, or about 138 euros. According to information gathered by the tech media, it was the mailbox of Yannick Haury, Renaissance MP for the ninth constituency of Loire-Atlantique.
Information sold to an anonymous buyer
"Today, I hacked a very well-known French politician," the hacker explained in his offer on the hacker forum. "Access to webmail, very active email with a lot of information in it. Price: $150. Perfect for: media attention, phishing, etc. A screenshot of the mailbox in question accompanied the ad.
Contacted by Numerama, the hacker confirmed that the stolen information had since been sold to a person, whose identity remains unknown. The credentials used to access the mailbox have also since been changed – it is unclear whether they were changed by the elected official's team or by the buyer of the stolen data.
A parliamentary colleague of Yannick Haury confirmed to Numerama that a hack had indeed taken place and that the MP's team had been informed. According to her, the "necessary steps" have been taken to address the problem. No information on the hacker's modus operandi has been released.
- Hacker
- Deputy
- Piracy
- Personal data
- Tech