On the evening of 3 December, blogger Paúl Moreno - who had been arrested for hacking into President Correa’s personal information - was released as a result of a request made by head of state during his N 299 "Enlace Ciudadano" program.
(Fundamedios/IFEX) – 4 December 2012 – On the evening of 3 December, blogger Paúl Moreno – who had been arrested for hacking into President Correa’s personal information – was released as a result of a request made by head of state during his N 299 “Enlace Ciudadano” program.
During the program, the president said: “I have learned that there is a person, Paúl Moreno, a hacker, who got access to my personal information. If I am the one who should accuse him, set him free. Dear Paúl, if you have my information, share it. You have my permission. I authorize you to share all my information and you can be released. This president has nothing to hide”.
Moreno was arrested on 30 November in the city of Riobamba – located in the central highlands of Ecuador – after revealing on his personal blog that the Public Information System implemented by the Ecuadorian government is vulnerable, as he was able to access President Rafael Correa’s personal information. He was arrested at the request of the National Public Data Registry (Dinardap) and accused of “fraudulent access to computer systems and databases”.
On his blog, under the title: “www.DatoSeguro.gob.ec is NOT safe”, the blogger said that the requirement that the user to provide the fingerprint from their ID card as identification when registering is not enough, even if that person is the President of the Republic. He clarified that he did not do what he did “to commit a crime or disclose information that may be used with malicious intent”.
