Apr 5, 2017
Bail hearing underway for Hamilton man accused in massive Yahoo email hack
The Canadian Press
HAMILTON -- A Canadian man accused in a massive hack of Yahoo emails is telling an Ontario court he had a business that protected websites from cyberattacks.
Karim Baratov is testifying at his bail hearing in Hamilton and says he earned about $90,000 from his business in its first year, but earned less in later years.
The 22-year-old was arrested under the Extradition Act last month.
U.S. authorities say Baratov and three others -- two of them allegedly officers of Russia's Federal Security Service -- were indicted for computer hacking, economic espionage and other crimes.
Crown attorney Heather Graham says that at the time of Baratov's arrest, police found more than $30,000 in his home.
Baratov has told the court that he was keeping the money as savings.
According to a sworn affidavit by a Toronto police officer involved in the case, Baratov has no record of legitimate employment.
But in his testimony, Baratov said he started a company in 2014, earning money by hosting webspace for small businesses and protecting websites from hackers.