The trial of the malicious hacker Hamza Bendelladj has been postponed until August 31, after an atypical hearing before the French courts, noted Zdnet.fr. The defendant, targeted by a summons, attended the proceedings by videoconference from a small crowded room in his detention center located in Arizona, a state in the western United States.
Known under the pseudonym of BX1, Hamza Bendelladj is currently finishing serving a 15-year prison sentence. This heavy sentence, which made him famous, is linked to the SpyEye banking trojan, a malware that had caused nearly a billion dollars in damage.
The dismissal, requested by the defense, was not contested by the prosecution. As noted by the lawyers of the Algerian hacker, Me Raphael Chiche and Jérémie Nataf, their client had not notified the hearing within the legal deadlines. The fault, apologized the prosecution, to the transfer of the detainee to a new detention center, a move which complicated the process.
The two lawyers also stressed that they had not been able to prepare the defense of their client, for lack of access to the court file. The prosecution suggested in this regard that traces of malware, mentioned in the annexes to the procedure, could have complicated access to the file.
Next release
Failing to oppose on the merits, the lawyers and the public prosecutor scrapped on the date of the dismissal. Hamza Bendelladj, nicknamed the smiling hacker because of his hilarious air at his arrest, was initially to be released on May 26, 2023, he specified in English and French to the Parisian judges.
This prospect was finally pushed back after the cancellation of a reduction of sentence of one year. The detainee has, however, filed a request to obtain his early release, a procedure of which he should know the result around the month of September or October next. His lawyers hope to obtain his release.
“It is imperative that he be tried in detention so that he can answer the questions of the court”, warned substitute Audrey Gerbaud, who had unsuccessfully requested a date for the trial to be postponed before the summer. Due to a busy schedule, the defense lawyers obtained the postponement of this dismissal, initially scheduled for June 28, after the summer holidays.
“I am innocent”
Because the prosecution obviously doubts that the hacker will go to France on his own to be tried. “Will you come?” Asked the president of the court. “Yes of course”, replied by videoconference Hamza Bendelladj, short hair and rectangular glasses. “When I am released, I will go straight to Algeria and then to court,” he added.
“I have nothing to do” with these computer hacks, “I am innocent”, also defended Hamza Bendelladj. “He pleads not guilty and he wants to explain himself on each of the facts with which he is accused”, summarized his lawyer, Me Chiche.
Failing to address the merits of the case, this first judicial round still made it possible to know a little more about what is alleged against the famous hacker. According to French justice, the 34-year-old hacker would not have remained inactive in a cell.
PyLocky ransomware
He is now being prosecuted for various computer offenses (access, maintenance, fraudulent introduction, obstruction and deletion of data contained in an automated processing system) and attempted extortion, a final offense punishable by a seven-year prison sentence. imprisonment and a fine of 100,000 euros.
The hacker is thus suspected of having used in the summer of 2018 the PyLocky ransomware – and not JobCrypter, as obviously read by mistake at the hearing – to attack a list of targets in France. Intriguing detail, he is suspected of having targeted numerous organizations linked to the law. Two penal centers, those of Orléans-Saran and Varenne-le-Grand, were thus cited as victims, as was the Lyon court.
If it is difficult to see how these targets could have paid a ransom, the hacker is also suspected of having attacked a law firm, a notarial office and a structure linked to notaries, the Association for the Development from the notarial service, to the company Derichebourg environnement and to Casden, a cooperative bank. So many computer hacks disputed by the defense on which Hamza Bendelladj will therefore be able to explain himself at the start of the school year.