Russian hacker wanted by FBI arrested in Prague

Suspect not believed to be involved with hacks of Democrats.

PRAGUE — A man identified as a Russian hacker suspected of pursuing targets in the United States has been arrested in the Czech Republic, police announced Tuesday.

The suspect was captured in a raid at a hotel in central Prague on Oct. 5, about 12 hours after authorities heard that he was in the country, where he drove around in a luxury car with his girlfriend, according to police. The man did not resist arrest, but he had medical problems and was briefly hospitalized, police said in a statement.

David Schon, a police spokesman, said Wednesday that the arrest of the man, whose name has not been released, was not announced immediately “for tactical reasons.”

The police statement said that “the man was a Russian citizen suspected of hacking attacks on targets in the United States,” and that the raid was conducted in collaboration with the FBI after Interpol issued an arrest warrant for him.

The social media company LinkedIn said it believed it had been a victim in the case. The company, which acts as a virtual job network, said it had been actively involved in the FBI’s case since it was hacked in 2012.

The FBI said in a statement that the arrest was an example of the collaboration needed “to successfully defeat cyber adversaries,” but declined to provide further details.

The arrest occurred two days before the Obama administration formally accused the Russian government of stealing and disclosing emails from the Democratic National Committee and other institutions and prominent individuals.

But law enforcement officials in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment while the investigation was underway, said Wednesday that the suspect did not appear to be related to the hacking of the Democrats’ emails or to organizations like DCLeaks or WikiLeaks.