A very strange story out of Quebec as a man was arrested earlier this week for hacking cellphones apparently for the fun of it. On top of that, some outlets were reporting that current members of the Montreal Canadiens were essentially spied on by the alleged hacker, which the team is outright denying.
By way of background, 45-year-old Pascal Desgagnes was arrested Wednesday for allegedly accessing the phone data of dozens of public figures in Canada and the Unites States. Longueuil police are saying none of them suffered financial damage as a result and the motive for hacking their phones is not yet known. In a story by Journal de Montreal, a former colleague of Desgagnes described him as a computer genius, adding he wouldn't be surprised if Desgagnes had done it just for fun.
In the meantime, TVA Sports had talked about Desgagnes possibly retrieving the phone data of some members of the Montreal Canadiens. It apparently spooked Brendan Gallagher so much that he went to the team's management in an attempt to figure out if there was something he should be worried about. Phillip Danault, on the other hand, told reporters after Wednesday night's game that if someone had hacked his phone, all they would find would be funny memes and texts.
TVA reporter Renaud Lavoie has since inquired about the hacking possibility with the team, and its management says no players were involved in any way. None of their phones was hacked and no personal information was accessed, which is likely a huge relief for many. With the prominence of things like banking and shopping apps, having your phone data hacked could certainly give someone clever enough to find it access to your financial information.
Desgagnes is currently facing seven charges including identity theft, identity fraud, mischief over computer data, unauthorized use of a computer and fraudulent use of a password. The investigation that led to his arrest began in May of 2018 and demonstrated that the suspect allegedly acted alone.
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