The hacker, who was tracked down in a record time of 48 hours, also penetrated the sites of three other companies in an attempt to blackmail them.
Spokesman of the Eastern Province police, Lt. Col. Ziyad Al-Riqaiti, said the investigation and homicide unit received a complaint from a large private company that its e-mail was hacked and secret data was stolen, including passwords and important information about the accounts of three other companies.
Al-Riqaiti said the hacker exploited the account of the company to obtain data on the Nitaqat program and hacked the sites of three other companies.
“The hacker sent messages to the companies and their customers to give him money to keep their data secret. If they wouldn’t pay, he would reveal all information about them,” he said.
After tracing the e-mails through a series of technical procedures the hacker was caught and taken to the police station for further investigation.
Al-Riqaiti said the hacker would be handed over to the Prosecution and Investigation Commission prior to sending him to court.
