Israeli student says he tracked real identity of hacker after intense eight-hour search; claims '0xOmar' is actually 19-year-old computer science student Omar Habib from Mexico.
Busted? Amir Phadida, an Israeli student, said he has uncovered the identity of "0xOmar", the hacker who leaked the personal details and credit card numbers of tens of thousands of Israelis last week.
If the claim proves true, the man behind the latest identity theft panic is not an experienced and shrewd Saudi intelligence agent, but rather a 19-year-old café employee from Mexico.
In a blog launched by Phadida, he writes: "The not-so-smart hacker made many mistakes. His biggest mistake was communicating with Israeli media outlets through a particular email address.
"Using this email address and some spare time, I embarked on an eight-hour journey and at the end I managed to reveal the identity of the hacker by collecting information that was scattered all over the internet, piece by piece – like a puzzle," he wrote.
Picture of Omar Habib out of his Facebook page
"I hope the investigation bears fruit and maybe even lead to his extradition to Israel and a trial," Phadida added.
The Israeli student said the hacker's email address led to forums dealing with technical discussions and Pro-Palestinian issues. "In one of the forums dealing with Blackberry Smartphones," Phadida noted," he left his real email address, which he also used for his Facebook account. From there on, the way to revealing his identity was short."
According to the details uncovered by Phadida, the hacker's full name is Omar Habib. He was born in the United Arab Emirates, but currently lives in the Mexican city of Pachuca. Habib, 19, works in a café called Euphoria Lounge and studies computer science at the university of Centro Hidalguense de Estudios Superiores Cenhies.
Other than his main Facebook page, Habib also has another page in which he posted a profile picture of an eagle colored in the colors of the Palestinian flag. Among Habib's listed hobbies are the TV show Top Gear USA, and posting in Pro-Palestinian forums.
Meanwhile on Friday, Leumi Card data protection personnel said that a man who is posing as the hacker "0xOmar" released a third file containing Trojan horse malware.
The file did not contain any new data, and could harm computers that activate it, the sources said.
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