14 DAY TRIAL // The Canadian hacker that US authorities believe to have been involved in the 2014 Yahoo data breach that exposed 500 million accounts has been denied bail.
According to a report from Reuters, Karim Baratov will remain in custody until May 26, and a hearing on his extradition to the United States will likely take place on June 12.
"Why would he stick around? He can continue his wealth-generating activities anywhere in the world," the judge said, adding that Baratov would be a flight risk if given bail.
Baratov faces multiple charges in the United States, including conspiracy to commit computer fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and identity theft, and he could end up in jail for quite a few decades if found guilty on all charges.
Baratov, of course, denies the accusations. His lawyer, Amadeo DiCarlo, said he would consider appealing the bail decision if the court is unable to schedule an expeditious extradition hearing.
A (mostly) Russian affair
The United States says Baratov, alongside three other hackers, worked with Russian intelligence agents who paid him to break into at least 80 email accounts. Aside from him, the US has charged three other hackers, including two Russian spies, one of which is already under arrest in his home country under accusations of treason.
The other alleged hacker involved in the data breach is Alexsey Belan, one of FBI's most-wanted cyber criminals. He was arrested in Europe in the summer of 2013 but managed to escape to Russia before he could be extradited.
Truthfully, Baratov may very well be the only one of the bunch who will ever face trial in the United States as chances are slim to none that Russia would hand over any of the other three individuals, especially since there's no extradition treaty in place.
Yahoo revealed the 2014 data breach in September 2016, saying that 500 million accounts had been exposed. Later, in December 2016, Yahoo came back out again and revealed that they'd also suffered a data breach in 2013 which exposed 1 billion accounts.