At just 19 years old, Federico Jaime infiltrated a complex computer security system and in just 18 minutes obtained a record amount. Days later, Jaime returned the money and left an unexpected message.

A couple of weeks ago, news circulated on some international portals about a 19-year-old Argentine hacker who had stolen 200 million dollars from an English bank, and who contrary to what usually happens in the vast majority of these cases, had returned the total amount of money. Even one saver received much more than they had lost due to the touching words they shared.

To put the situation into perspective, this was the largest hack in history carried out by a single person, and the “attack” lasted just 18 minutes, followed by a series of communications between the parties. The total amount obtained was returned 23 days later, leaving as a golden touch to the maneuver a message revealing his identity and encouraging the practice of “Ethical Hacking”, that is, the one carried out with the aim of revealing the flaws of a computer security system.

After learning some details of this story, I began trying to contact Federico by all means. After a couple of weeks of persistence, I managed to get a response from him and we started talking through a channel he considered safe, finally agreeing after a few days to answer some questions, but in exchange for not revealing my identity, the medium by which we communicate, and the place in the world where he currently is. He explains that he should not need to behave this way but due to some malicious and false rumors, he prefers to be cautious at least during the first few months.

I must confess that if I didn’t know his age and wasn’t looking at the face of someone who recently stopped being a child, I would bet I was talking to a seasoned academic, when in fact it is a self-taught person, who does not yet have any university degree.

Here are some excerpts from what I’ve been able to learn about Federico Jaime, the Argentine hacker who left much of the world speechless.

• Would you like to tell us a little about your story and how you gained the knowledge that makes you considered a hacker today?

I wouldn’t say I’m a…