Toronto - A
Canadian accused of hacking Yahoo! email accounts on behalf of the Russian
government appeared in court seeking bail ahead of a hearing to determine
whether he should be extradited to the US for trial.
Karim Baratov,
22, was one of four people indicted by the US government last month and charged
with working for Dmitry Dokuchaev, a hacker for Russia’s FSB security service -
the successor to the KGB. It’s not clear whether Baratov knew he was working
for the FSB, but his father denied any such connection.
Ontario Superior
Court Justice Alan Whitten in Hamilton didn’t rule on the bail request
Wednesday and said he would hear closing submissions from the lawyers on April
11.
The 2014 Yahoo
hack affected at least 500 million accounts, damaging the company’s reputation
and threatening a takeover bid from Verizon Communications. Verizon cut its
offer by $350 million to $4.48 billion following news of the breach.
Baratov, who was
born in Kazakhstan and is a Canadian citizen, entered court wearing black
sweatpants, black t-shirt, with his ankles chained. He put on a beige blazer as
he sat down in the prisoner’s box.
He told the
judge he lived with his parents until 2015. He said he had a Mercedes and
a BMW while attending high school and started his own business protecting web
servers from hackers in 2014. He said earned C$10 000 ($7 500) a month that
year, less in the ensuing years.
At 20, Baratov
said he moved into a C$642 000 home, and over time added a C$155 000
Lamborghini, a Porsche 911, an Aston Martin and another BMW to his car
collection. His parents helped pay for the cars, he said.
Baratov said he
had about C$260 000 of equity in his home when it was sold following his
arrest. He said he had no money in his personal bank account and about C$5 000
in his business bank account when he was arrested. Police found about C$31 000
in cash when they searched his home.
Read also: Yahoo! hacking probe accelerates
According to the
US, Baratov was paid to gain access to 80 email accounts, including 50 Google
accounts, belonging to Russian politicians and bureaucrats. He used
spear-phishing attacks to target his victims, using fake emails to compel them
to provide sensitive information, and would then sell their passwords to
Dokuchaev for $100 each, according to the Justice Department.
The hackers were
allegedly looking for people of political interest and others who might be
vulnerable to financial fraud, and the list of victims included the White House
and its military and diplomatic corps. They ultimately stole the contents of 6 500
Yahoo accounts in an attack the company called "state-sponsored."
Baratov’s
father, Akhmet Tokbergenov, said through an interpreter that his son
didn’t work for any Russians or any government.
"My son
knows about my attitude toward Russian special authorities and it’s absolutely
negative,” Tokbergenov told the judge. “He knows why we moved to Canada. I
didn’t want to live in that environment.”
Baratov’s father
offered to put up C$845 000 equity in his home as surety. He said it
represented his life’s savings and he will make sure his son doesn’t flee.
"I will
create such conditions that maybe even jail will look like paradise to
him," Tokbergenov said.