The cyber unit at Lahav 433 arrested early Sunday morning, following a complex and covert investigation conducted in collaboration with the National Cyber Defense Authority, a 32-year-old resident of the north, on suspicion of blackmailing one of the country's largest banks and other companies in the economy - when he threatened to expose customer databases if he did not receive over NIS 1 million in Bitcoin virtual currency from the bank's management and the commercial companies.
The affair began with emails sent by the suspect to the bank and company management at the end of July. The suspect is a former employee of a company that provides services to several banks and government offices, including the bank in question.
According to suspicion, the suspect managed to obtain the bank's databases, such as customer identification information, and demanded a ransom in exchange for not publishing the data and selling it - something that could have harmed the bank and the companies.
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The cyber unit at Lahav 433 and the Israel Police's negotiation unit began investigating the affair, along with dealing with the blackmailer via emails, in order to locate the suspect who disguised his identity online and establish the necessary evidence against him, while neutralizing the threat.
This morning, with the lifting of the publication ban, it can be announced that special police teams from Lahav 433 conducted searches at several locations in order to locate and neutralize the suspect, while simultaneously taking control of his computer and access to the network, and successfully ending the case, with the arrest of the suspect, the collection of the necessary evidence, and the return of the sensitive information to its owner to prevent potential damage.
In parallel with the police investigation, teams from the National Cyber Defense Authority, together with the Banking Supervision Department, worked to ensure that no damage was caused to the organization's systems, that there was no harm to customer accounts, that its functional continuity was not compromised, and to improve the resilience of the bank's systems.
The detainee was brought to the Rishon LeZion Peace Court in the afternoon for a hearing, and his detention was extended by eight days.
