A former student who was granted a pardon for charges related to hacking the FreeHour student app said on Tuesday that he was grateful and ready to put the three-year-long ordeal behind him. “It's not something I particularly enjoy being associated with,” Michael Debono told Times of Malta. Debono, alongside three other students, was arrested in 2022. Debono, Giorgio Grigolo and Luke Bjorn Scerri were arraigned in March this year and accused of gaining unauthorised access to the application. Lecturer Mark Joseph Vella was charged with being an accomplice. In a statement on Tuesday, the Office of the Prime Minister announced that all four have been granted a presidential pardon on the recommendation of the Cabinet since their actions were well-intentioned. The news of the presidential pardon was a huge relief for Debono. “I'm happy that it's been recognised that nothing wrong was done in the first place. I think that I should not have been arrested in the first place, though,” Debono said. His equipment hasn't been returned He reflected on the time he was arrested, describing it as a “painful” particularly as he had all his computer equipment taken away from him during a time when he was writing his thesis. It hasn't been returned so far. Looking forward, Debono reflected on the government’s intention to implement a law that protects “white hat” hackers, saying he was concerned about the length of time it might take to implement. He has moved on Since his arrest, Debono has shifted from machine learning to working full-time as a security researcher for blockchain – his responsibilities include uncovering any vulnerabilities in the blockchain. Debono also forms part of a capture the flag team - teams involved in cybersecurity competitions – called Friendly Maltese Citizens, which is highly ranked. This led him to prepare an international conference to be held in Valletta in September, titled Malta CTF, where 32 people are coming down to Malta to compete in the finals of a capture the flag competition. Debono has also been hosting informative cybersecurity meetups. Information about these meetups can be found on this Telegram channel.