14 DAY TRIAL // Farid Essebar, a 27-year-old Moroccan with Russian citizenship known on the hacking scene as Diabl0, has been arrested by Thai authorities on suspicion of being involved in cyberattacks against Swiss financial organizations.
According to the Bangkok Post, Essebar was arrested after Swiss police alerted Thai authorities through the embassy in Bangkok about the hacker and three other members of his gang being in Thailand.
In Switzerland, Essebar is accused of hacking into the computer systems of several banks, causing damage estimated at around $4 billion (€2.87 billion).
Police in Thailand have been tracking Diabl0 for the past two years. Apparently, they wanted to make sure he’s the man wanted by Swiss authorities before arresting him. Essebar is said to have visited Thailand, Hong Kong and other neighboring countries several times in the past years.
Police Colonel Songsak Raksaksakul, chief of the International Cases and International Crime Division of the Department of Special Investigation, said Essebar never gambled and never purchased any assets in Thailand, despite visiting a number of tourist destinations.
Diabl0 was first arrested in 2005 by Moroccan authorities. He was accused and sentenced for being involved in the creation of Zotob, a notorious worm that infected a lot of computers, including the ones of organizations like CNN, ABC News, NYT, Boeing and the US Department of Homeland Security.
He was sentenced to two years, but he was released after one.