Warrant issued for arrest of cyclist turned hacker

Cyclist accused of planting trojan at dope testing lab.

A French judge has issued a warrant for the arrest of US cyclist Floyd Landis in connection with a computer hacking case.

Landis initially won the famous Tour de France cycle race in 2006, but was later stripped of his title when tests indicated that he had taken performance-enhancing drugs.

The cyclist is now wanted in connection with a hacking incident at the French anti-doping test lab that carried out the tests that ultimately led to his being stripped of his title and barred from racing for two years.

In November 2006 the Châtenay-Malabry test lab revealed that it had suffered a security breach and that its computer data had been stolen. The lab claimed that the stolen information had been tampered with and used in an attempt to discredit the lab, as well as sent to other labs and given to news outlets.

Investigators believe that a trojan planted on the test lab's systems came from an email sent to the lab from a computer with the same IP address as Landis's coach Arnie Baker.

Both Baker and Landis deny the hacking charges - and maintain that Landis did not use performance-enhancing drugs to win the Tour.

The New York Times has the full story here.

17 February 2010

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