German police search flat of 19-year-old man after data breach: rbb

Police searched the apartment and household rubbish of Jan Schuerlein, who it currently being treated as a witness, and took away technical devices, rbb said, citing security sources.

January 07, 2019 12:08 pm | Updated 12:08 pm IST - BERLIN:

German federal police on Sunday searched the apartment of a 19-year-old IT worker in the Southern city of Heilbronn as part of investigations into a far-reaching data breach, broadcaster rbb said on Monday.

Police searched the apartment and household rubbish of Jan Schuerlein, who it currently being treated as a witness, and took away technical devices, rbb said, citing security sources.

Germany's government said on Friday that personal data and documents from hundreds of politicians and public figures, including Chancellor Angela Merkel, had been published online in what appeared to be one of Germany's biggest data breaches.

According to rbb, Schuerlein previously said on Twitter he had been in touch with user “0rbit”, who is suspected to have committed the data breach via a Twitter account which has been shut down.

Mr. Schuerlein on Twitter posted a screenshot of an online chat he had with “0rbit” on Jan. 4, in which the latter said he would destroy his own computer equipment. Schuerlein told journalists he cooperated with police, rbb said.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.