Spanish authorities have arrested José Luis Huertas (aka Alcasec), a 19-year-old hacker regarded as one of the most dangerous hackers in the country and a “serious threat to national security.”
Huertas is allegedly responsible for multiple high-profile cyberattacks against government agencies, including the country's tax administration and judiciary service. The teen is also believed to be behind a search engine called Udyat (“the Eye of Horus”) that allows threat actors to obtain personal and sensitive data. In his YouTube videos Alcasec boasted that the platform contained data on 90% of Spain's population.
Spanish authorities started an investigation in November 2022 following a cyberattack on Spain's national council of the judiciary (CGPJ). During the attack, the hacker stole the data of 575,000 taxpayers and created a database to sell that information to other threat actors.
According to the police, the attack has also affected a number of other government agencies, including the Spanish Tax Administration Agency (Agencia Tributaria), exposing personal data, account numbers and bank balances.
Following a complex investigation, experts in the cyber threat investigation of the General Information Police Station were able to identify the individual responsible for the attacks, a 19-year-old man with a long history in the world of cybercrime. Although Huertas used a complex mechanism of hiding money through multiple cryptocurrency “mixer” services, the police were able to trace the payments with the help of experts at the National Cryptological Center.
During searchers at Huertas’ home and other registered addresses the police officers seized a large amounts of cash, documents, computer equipment and luxury vehicles.
José Luis Huertas will remain in custody until the date of his trial.
