No arrests by Garda over Eircom hacker

Gardai have still not arrested the person who hacked into Eircom's Internet service last week causing disruption to an estimated 30,000 users. This is despite assertions by Eircom last Thursday that it may have established the identity of the hacker.

A spokeswoman for the company said yesterday it had heard nothing from the Garda, while the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation, which is investigating the crime, would say only that it was "following a number of lines of inquiry".

A Garda spokesman added that although there had been no arrests numerous people had been interviewed, including Eircom employees, throughout the State, "but no one has been brought into a Garda station for questioning. My impression is that the bureau expects the investigation to take some time."

The Eircom net site was hacked into on Wednesday of last week. The hacker then had access to some 30,000 user names and passwords.

Although there was no indication that he or she had made use of this information, Eircom took the precaution of changing each customer's password. The new passwords could only be obtained by the customers calling the usual helpline number, to which extra staff were seconded. Its opening hours were extended until midnight.

Despite these provisions, many people still complained the line was either constantly engaged or rang out. It will remain open until midnight until tomorrow.

Almost all customers had been reconnected to the service, the Eircom spokeswoman said last night. Those who weren't were "people who were away on holiday or for whatever reason had not contacted the help desk. We will be writing to each of our 30,000 customers advising them of the situation," she said.

Eircom has yet to assess how much the disruption cost the company.

If convicted of criminal damage, the person behind the breach faces a fine of up to £10,000 and/or a prison sentence of up to 10 years.