Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2014/01/22/us_wont_get_hands_on_navy_hacker/

US can't get its hands on Navy hacker Victor Faur, aka SirVic

Slovenian court declines extradition request thanks to Romanian conviction

By Richard Chirgwin

Posted in Legal, 22nd January 2014 02:57 GMT

A Slovenian court has declined America's request to extradite hacker Victor Faur, on the basis that he's already received a sentence in Romania.

Faur gained notoriety for breaking into US Navy, NASA and Department of Energy systems in 2005 and 2006. Tried and convicted in Romania, he received a 16 month suspended sentence and a fine of $238,000 back in 2008.

Part of the WhiteHat team, Faur used the handle SirVic to post messages on the target machines, making fun of the systems' security and providing advice about patches. In 2011, his legals announced that they would appeal against the size of the fine.

The US was unable to seek his extradition from Romania because its extradition treaty with that country didn't cover computer crimes at the time of Faur's arrest. However, America did issue an international arrest warrant, leading to him being detained in October 2013 while travelling through Slovenia to Italy.

Reuters is now reporting that a court in northeast Slovenia has denied the extradition because Faur has already been punished in Romania. However, the report suggests that the decision may have to be confirmed by a higher court before he can be released. ®