Hat tip to my favorite father-son cybersecurity duo, Dave and Chris Ries.
On June 26, after an FBI investigation, it was announced that three Pittsburgh residents had been indicted on cybercrime charges. Matthew James West, 20, identified himself as an associate of the hactivist group Anonymous. Alyson Cunningham, 24, had been associated with the law firm VG - from her LinkedIn page, it seems likely the law firm was Voelker & Gricks, LLP, where she was a legal secretary. Isn't social media wonderful? I wouldn't be surprised if the link disappeared but I was able to access it on July 1st.
Also arrested was her husband, Jonathan Cunningham, 28. The three apparently hacked into the law firm's server on November 28, 2011 and installed spyware which could be used to capture passwords on the network. The following day, West allegedly provided personal financial information about Alyson's former co-workers to her husband in violation of federal law.
The defendants face a maximum of 26 years in prison, a fine of $1.1 million, or both. The sentence will be determined based on the seriousness of the offenses and the criminal history, if any, of the defendants.
As always, I wonder what software they installed and why the law firm's defenses didn't pick it up. If I find out (or Dave and Chris do) I'll report back.
E-mail: snelson@senseient.com Phone: 703-359-0700
