A Canadian teenager was the first to be arrested in relation to the extraction of private information from the Canada Revenue Agency website (CRA) through the Heartbleed bug.
On April 15, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's (RCMP) National Division Integrated Technological Crime Unit (ITCU) searched the home of a 19-year old boy named Stephen Arthuro Solis-Reyes, who allegedly hacked confidential data in the CRA website. The teen's computer equipment was seized, while he was apprehended and charged with a couple of criminal charges -- one is Mischief in Relation to Data contrary to Sections 342.1(1)(a) and 430(1.1) of the criminal code, and the other one is Unauthorized Use of Computer.
"The RCMP treated this breach of security as a high priority case and mobilized the necessary resources to resolve the matter as quickly as possible. Investigators from National Division, along with our counterparts in 'O' Division have been working tirelessly over the last four days analyzing data, following leads, conducting interviews, obtaining and executing legal authorizations and liaising with our partners," said Assistant Commissioner Gilles Michaud in a police report.
The successful search and investigation was a joint effort of the RCMP, the London Police Service and other government agencies. It was carried out in line with the ITCU's directive to look into pure computer crimes in which the Federal Government and critical IT infrastructures of Canada are negatively affected.
According to the police report, the investigation is still moving ahead and the Ontario resident teenage boy was scheduled to face the court in Ottawa on July 17, 2014. Further details and noteworthy progress with regards to the case will absolutely be publicized to inform concerned individuals.
Several businesses in the United States are now on high alert, including Yahoo and Amazon, because of the heartbleed bug which has affected 67 percent of active websites since its discovery this month. Internet security firms recommend businesses to update their OpenSSL to prevent the bug from getting into their computer networks.
© 2025 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
