Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1373323
3 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 19 MAY 2021 NEWS THE personal information of more than 21,000 people has been dumped on the dark web by the cyber criminals that hacked into the Nationalist Party's computer system. The leak includes names, addresses, ID cards and phone numbers of what appears to be a database containing former and current party members. The files were published to the hackers' forum on the dark web, which is an on- line space not accessible by conventional search engines. The PN was the victim of an attack last March.Hackers threatened to leak "valuable" information of the party unless it agreed to communicate and co- operate with them. However, party leader Bernard Grech had said that the party would not negoti- ate with cybercriminals. The hackers had asked the party for €5,000 not to leak the information. The party was given 240 hours to pay the ransom demanded, after which the hacker group said it will dump all the data hacked from the PN onto its dark website, for an- yone to see and download. In recent days hackers have uploaded three files, but not all of them are acces- sible. On Monday, the party told the Times of Malta that it believed the hackers could only access data relating to 2014 or earlier. A police investigation and magisterial inquiry are underway. PN data hack: cyber criminals leak details of over 21,000 people CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Speaking to MaltaToday on Tuesday, the day after he went to police headquarters out of his own will to give a state- ment, Abela said it results that when he gave testimony in the compilation of evidence, the police hadn't summoned him specifically. "Police never investigated or interrogated me since the HSBC heist in 2010 and from verifications I have carried out, it results that the prose- cution had generically asked for an HSBC representative to testify and not for me specifi- cally. Eventually, as insurance manager at that time, I repre- sented the bank in court, and it appears that I was only asked to confirm some technical de- tails," Abela said. In the testimony seen by Malt- aToday, Abela had described his work at the bank at the time and also confirmed that he some- times used the security equip- ment to produce access cards, known as Cotag cards. Three other bank representatives from the security department also testified, including the head of security Mario Bartolo. Daphne Caruana Galizia hit- men Vince Muscat and Alfred Degiorgio have said that "a sitting minister" was on the HSBC heist. They have not publicly named the person and both of them have angled for a presidential pardon. Muscat is awaiting trial for his involve- ment in the heist, along with Daren Debono, known as it- Topo (not the ex-footballer). However, Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi left noth- ing to the imagination when in a Facebook post linked the claims made by Muscat and Degiorgio to Abela. Azzopar- di also claimed that Abela was promised €300,000 for provid- ing internal bank footage and access cards to the criminals. Abela has denied the allega- tions and sued Azzopardi for libel. MaltaToday reported last Sunday that police have initi- ated an investigation afresh in- to the claims involving Abela, with the prosecuting inspector requesting the minister's dep- osition from Judge Giovanni Grixti, who is expected to pre- side over the heist trial. In correspondence seen by MaltaToday the police inspec- tor said that "in view of the re- cent allegations against witness Carmelo Abela, the police has opened an investigation anew on the allegations raised." In an unorthodox move, Grix- ti informed Abela of the inspec- tor's request, to which the min- ister reiterated he could not remember testifying but had no problem with his testimony being passed on to the police. Abela's lawyer also requested a copy of any information passed on to the police. After the story was published, the Nationalist Party called on Abela to resign from his min- isterial post pending the police investigation. Abela reacted by going to police headquarters to give a statement. Asked whether he should re- sign, Abela told MaltaToday that he was not under investi- gation and never was. He in- sisted the police had a duty to investigate the claims. "I am not under investiga- tion… when I gave my state- ment on Monday, the police did not ask me anything or cau- tion me in any way," the minis- ter said. Asked if he was given the for- mal caution by the police offi- cial whom he spoke to, Abela reiterated this was not the case. "The police are obliged to in- vestigate the allegations made by Azzopardi but I am not a suspect. I also gave the police a copy of the sworn statement I had already presented in court in the libel case against Jason Azzopardi, who, despite having until Monday to file his reply, failed to do so," Abela said. The minister insisted that he will take every step to protect his integrity, accusing the PN of being in cahoots with crim- inals. "It is very evident that the PN's and the criminals' strat- egies have converged with the two parties, assisting each oth- er to achieve different aims. Some want to buy their free- dom; others want to buy power at all costs," Abela insisted. Meanwhile, MaltaToday is informed that the police have spoken to Azzopardi. "Some weeks ago, police talked to Az- zopardi to understand how and whether he could help the in- vestigation," sources said, de- scribing it as a short meeting. Investigators have always be- lieved the robbers had inside information and access tags that enabled them to make their way to the cash centre with ease. However, all investi- gations concerning the alleged mole drew blanks. Abela says he had represented HSBC in court "Police never investigated or interrogated me since the HSBC heist in 2010 and from verifications I have carried out, it results that the prosecution had generically asked for an HSBC representative to testify and not for me specifically." According to sources, police have spoken to Jason Azzopardi (pictured) to understand how and whether he could help the investigation