Canada - A cause of piracy, it could set a precedent

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A former deputy director of the school, The Source, and a teacher in computer science at the Cégep of Abitibi-Témiscamingue will face justice in a case of computer hacking that could set a precedent.

On 10 October, the company Fibr@ir Telecommunications, Rouyn-Noranda, and its two founders, Jean-Dominic Mathieu, a former deputy director of the school of The Source, and Yvan Laverdière, teacher in computer science at the Cégep of Abitibi-Témiscamingue, will be appearing at the Palais de justice of Rouyn-Noranda. According to the indictments, six counts will be filed against the company and two of the accused, five in connection with the computer hacking and mischief in relation to computer data.

The actions that are complained of to the two individuals alleged to have been committed in January 2016 against the facilities of the internet service provider Green the Future of Rouyn-Noranda.

Events thread

Green the Future was experiencing recurring issues with its signal and its technicians could not find the cause. “We started to have problems starting in December 2015. There were abnormalities. One of my partners felt that we had to hack,” said Mr. Caron. After you have made modifications and changes of equipment, the problems persisted.

The Friday before Easter 2016, a customer has advised Green the Future that it was out of service. After many interventions, the source of the problem remained unknown.

“I asked my technician to follow the wire from the tower, which was on a building of the Main avenue, to the end to find the problem. A few minutes later, he found that my wire had been cut and that a device of type Raspberry Pie (mini-computer) was coupled to my network,” explained Sylvain Caron. According to his explanation, this mini-computer can run a program like any conventional computer.

“For me, the important thing is the client in advance. I told him to reconnect the wires and bring the device to an engineer. It has managed to trace 40 megabytes of log. The function of the device was to create shortages of services on my network,” he confided.

Months of police investigation

The president of Green Future has subsequently received a call from an employee stating that he had been contacted by the makers of Fibr@ir so that it reports the same day the equipment it had seized, failing which, he would undergo the consequences. The next day, Mr. Caron has chosen instead to go to the police station.

“It took over five months. The police has made an analysis. I was warned not to talk to anyone to avoid contaminating the investigation. Later, I learned that the Sûreté du Québec had obtained a warrant against Yvan Laverdière and John Dominic Mathieu, the people of Fibr@ir. The agents took the opportunity to seize all the computer equipment in their offices and their homes”, stated Sylvain Caron. The material was then transported to Montreal for analysis.

Possible case law

“A police officer told me that this case could set a precedent in Quebec and maybe even Canada, because it is the first computer fraud where it was found the protagonists, unlike the other hacks such as Equifax, or other,” said Mr. Caron.

According to the heads that will be filed against them, the defendants could face up to ten years of imprisonment.