Famous hacker 'Guccifer' caught in Romania

Marcel Lazar Lehel, 40, is escorted by masked policemen in Bucharest, after being arrested in Arad, 550 km (337 miles) west of Bucharest, Jan 22, 2014. Lehel is allegedly the hacker using the nicknames "Guccifer" and "The Small Fume" and is suspected to have broken into several e-mail accounts of various politicians and celebrities and the head of Romania's Intelligence Service George Maior. [Photo/Agencies]

BUCHAREST - Hacker "Guccifer" was caught Wednesday in Arad, western Romania, the culprit becoming famous after breaking e-mail accounts belonging to public figures in Romania, including that of Intelligence Service director George Maior.

"Guccifer" or "Little Smoke" are the pseudonyms used by Marcel Lazar Lehel, who accessed in 2013 repeatedly and without any right, by breaching the security measures, the email accounts belonging to some public figures in Romania, in order to enter possession of confidential data in email, according to a press release of DIICOT, or the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism.

Subsequently, the hacker disclosed the contents of the mail to the public, which are criminal acts violating the online privacy and denigrating the public image of the persons concerned, the quoted source said.

Marcel Lazar Lehel also allegedly accessed the email and Facebook accounts of some public figures in the United States, among which former US state secretary Colin Powell, members of Bush and Rockefeller families and officials of the Obama administration.

The man is a repeated offender, as he was sentenced in early 2012 to three years of prison, suspended sentence, after being arrested in 2011 for 25 cyber crimes.

Related:

China Internet failures arouse hacker concerns

US Marines website hacked by pro-Syria hackers