Technology took a joint task force of Israeli cybercrime police and the FBI to the home of Jewish teen Michael Kaydar, 19-years-old. Kaydar lives with his parents in the coastal city Ashkelon and now stands accused of issuing a wave of bomb threats to Jewish organizations in the United States, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and, more recently, Israeli educational institutions, according to Israeli police.
Kaydar is alleged to have used disposable Google Voice call forwarding, Bitcoin digital currency, and Spoofcard’s voice-altering option to mask caller ID, gender, identity, and location.
Routing his internet connection through proxy servers both cloaked and unveiled his location, leading to his arrest after Kaydar reportedly failed to verify that an anonymous proxy server was actively concealing his IP.
Hiding proved futile for Kaydar
Masking his telephone number, using a voice synthesizer to sound like a female, hiding his IP number through anonymous proxy servers overseas, and paying with untraceable currency proved futile as the result of one mistake when making a threat. Police learned of his location by tracing his IP (Internet Protocol) address. Israeli cybercrimes, antifraud police arrested Kaydar.
United States Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, lauded the FBI and Israeli National Police for the arrest of the accused suspect.
“The Department of Justice is committed to protecting the civil rights of all Americans,” Sessions remarked, “we will not tolerate the targeting of any community in this country on the basis of their religious beliefs.”
The 19-year-old’s attorney, Galit Bash, asserts her client has an inoperable brain tumor, which was diagnosed when Kaydar was 14-years-old.
She claims the tumor could affect his cognitive behavior and lead to irrational behavior.
Shock in response to Kaydar’s arrest
“Jews worldwide uttered a collective gasp,” according to USA Today, when they learned that the suspect is also Jewish. Michael Feinstein, at the helm of a Maryland Jewish community center that was twice-threatened this year, is stunned by the arrest Kaydar.
Kaydar is Israeli-American, and he has dual citizenship. He has not lived in the United States, according to his attorney. The United States Department of Justice has not commented if Kaydar will face U.S. charges and possible extradition.
