Crypto-hacker Further Unmasked by US Authorities – A UK national pleaded guilty on September 22, 2020. The man is charged with aggravated identity theft, as well as global computer fraud. The sentence is finally set at five years in federal prison.
The Dark Overlord: an active group
The charge is serious : Nathan Wyatt , 39, was a member of a hacker collective known as „The Dark Overlord“ . This group has lobbied countless corporations in the United States on numerous occasions. The News Spy was to remotely access the computer networks of several companies, without their authorization. The victims included healthcare providers, accounting firms, and others.
Wyatt admitted that as of 2016, he was a member of the Pirate Party . Its role was to obtain sensitive data on targeted companies, then threaten them with a ransom that could range from $ 7,500 to $ 350,000 . The note had of course to be paid in Bitcoin . In some cases, hackers even used sensitive information relating to the families of victims.
” Maybe your [sic] just a dumb rich girl who doesn’t [sic] understand the dangers here. Im gonna try Chels. she may have an iq. stay hot. “
Nathan Wyatt used his skills to develop means of communication , as well as virtual private networks , which were used to send threat messages to victims. A fatal error still identified the man. Wyatt indeed used his own cell phone to contact one of his victims.
Justice has decided
The man was extradited from the United Kingdom, to the Eastern District of Missouri, in December 2019, to appear in court . After more than a year of proceedings, US judge Ronni White, sentenced Wyatt to 5 years in prison , and ordered him to pay $ 1,467,048 in restitution .
The report published by the DoJ shows a strong will of the justice system to attack hackers who break into the privacy of Americans illegally .
“Cyber hackers mistakenly believe they can hide behind a keyboard. In this case, the FBI has once again demonstrated that it will impose consequences on cybercriminals no matter what time and where they are. “ – Richard, special agent in charge of the file
Ransomware is growing rapidly, and gaining in ingenuity. This malware is estimated to cost an estimated $ 7.5 billion in 2019 alone, according to a report. In an era of telecommuting, many people are now seeing their workspace exposed to the web. This type of attack therefore has a bright future ahead of it …