Czech Republic authorities have arrested a Russian citizen for his alleged role in the 2012 hack of social-networking site LinkedIn.
The man was taken into custody by Czech National Police in Prague, based on a red notice issued by Interpol, the international police organisation.
He is suspected of carrying out criminal activities targeting US interests.
The arrest was reportedly made earlier this month upon a request from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation. The US is seeking to extradite him to face trial in San Francisco.
LinkedIn said it has remained actively collaborating with the FBI’s case since the 2012 breach.
The company said: “We are thankful for the hard work and dedication of the FBI in its efforts to locate and capture the parties believed to be responsible for this criminal activity.”
LinkedIn was breached in 2012.
In May this year, LinkedIn said it was investigating whether the 2012 breach was bigger than originally thought, after 117 million stolen user emails and passwords sold on Dark Web.
Content from our partners
The arrest was not linked to recent political hacks in the US. Prague’s municipal court will now have to decide on the arrested person’s extradition to the US. Russia is said to be fighting the attempt.
The arrest comes only days after US authorities blamed the Russian government of using hackers to interfere with its election process.
Russia has been accused of coordinating the theft of emails from the Democratic National Committee and other US institutions to influence the results of next month’s presidential election.
