Tag Archive for: indicted

NJ medical lab employee indicted on charges he sabotaged competitor’s computer systems

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A New York man employed at a medical testing lab in New Jersey allegedly sabotaged his competitor’s operations by posing as a repairman to enter the other laboratory’s offices, based in Millburn, and disabled their computer systems and security devices, according to the Justice Department.

Eric Leykin, 32, of Brooklyn, was indicted in federal court last week on charges of wire fraud, accusing him of using a prepaid cellphone to call his competitor in July 2022, posing as an employee from the lab’s tech support firm, and made an appointment to service their equipment the following day, according to court documents.

Upon arriving at the facility, Leykin allegedly proceeded to sever wires connected to the lab’s security system, removed multiple computer hard drives, unplugged the company’s backup generator and damaged various testing devices, the indictment claims.

If convicted, Leykin could serve up to 20 years in federal prison and face a fine of either $250,000 or an amount equal to the company’s financial losses as a result of the alleged scheme.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ medical lab employee accused of sabotage, posing as repairman

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Five Defendants Indicted in a Conspiracy to Distribute Child Pornography | USAO-SDFL

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Miami, Florida – A federal grand jury in West Palm Beach has charged five men with one count of conspiracy to distribute child pornography and multiple counts of distribution and solicitation of child pornography. 

Anthony Wayne Santiago, 28, of Novi, MI; Jacob Dominic VanDyke, 25, of Muskegon, MI; Johnathan Scott Fleak, 32, of Pryor, OK; Aaron Ray Iuliano, 27, of Ravenna, OH; and Michael Paul Gianfrancesco, 39, of Livingston, TN, were members of a chat room predicated on the distribution of pornography of children under the age of 13 years.

According to the indictment, from September to October 2021, the five defendants entered and participated in a private online chat.  These defendants all distributed and or solicited child pornography amongst more than 50 other individuals.

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Anthony Salisbury, Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and Ric Bradshaw, Sheriff, Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office (PBSO), made the announcement.

HSI Miami and PBSO investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Schiller is prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about the Project Safe Childhood initiative and for information regarding Internet safety, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

An indictment contains mere allegations and defendants are innocent unless found guilty in a court of law.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 22-cr-80127.

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Alleged Russian ransomware attacker indicted, faces extradition from the Netherlands

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The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has secured the extradition of Denis Mihaqlovic Dubnikov, a Russian citizen from the Netherlands. He will face trial in the United States on allegations of participating in money laundering for a ransomware group.

In a press release, the DOJ accused the 29-year-old of laundering as much as $400,000 that was proceeds from the victims of ransomware attacks. Overall, Dubnikov and his co-conspirators, who are yet to be identified, laundered as much as $70 million extracted using the Ryuk malware variant.

“After receiving ransom payments, Ryuk actors, Dubnikov and his co-conspirators, and others involved in the scheme, allegedly engaged in various financial transactions, including international financial transactions, to conceal the nature, source, location, ownership, and control of the ransom proceeds,” the release said.

The Ryuk malware variant was first identified in 2018. The malware operates by encrypting files and attempting to delete any system backups when it is executed on a computer or network. It targets both storage drives connected to or in the computer and those accessed remotely via networks.

The attacks targeted individuals and organizations throughout the United States and abroad. Victims were blackmailed into paying ransoms in digital assets to access their files.

One high-profile victim was the U.S. Coast Guard, which saw its operations stopped for over 30 hours following an attack perpetuated through an email phishing campaign in 2020. In the same year, the U.S. classified the malware variant as an “imminent and increasing cybercrime threat to hospitals.”

Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of State linked the ransomware to Conti, a Russian ransomware group. The department has promised a $15 million bounty for information on the group. Ryuk ransomware has also been linked to the North Korean Lazarus group.

US cracking down hard on digital assets money laundering

Dubnikov has already made his first appearance in a court in Portland. A five-day jury trial will be held for him starting on October 4, and he could face up to 20 years imprisonment if found guilty.

The DOJ’s investigation of the case was coordinated…

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Document of the Day: Russian Government Hackers Indicted

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DOJ Press Release on Russian Hacking Campaigns

Image: Screenshot

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has unsealed two federal indictments charging four employees of the Russian government with a conspiracy to hack into the global energy sector and gain remote control over critical pieces of infrastructure. The indictments offer a detailed, inside look at the state of official Russian hacking today, and point to an extraordinary program that targeted “thousands of computers, at hundreds of companies and organizations, in approximately 135 countries.”

DOJ Press Release on Russian Hacking Campaigns1

DOJ indictment of a Russian Defence Ministry employee on hacking and conspiracy charges.

In a press release about the indictments, which were handed down last year but only made public last week, the DOJ alleges two separate hacking campaigns: the first involving a Russian citizen who worked for the country’s Ministry of Defense; a second involving three other Russians who worked for the Federal Security Service (FSB), successor agency to the KGB.

In June 2021, the US government indicted an employee of the Russian Defense Ministry’s research institute on two counts of conspiracy and one count of attempting to damage an energy facility for allegedly triggering two emergency shutdowns at a foreign oil refinery in 2018. According to the charges filed in the District of Columbia, the defendant and unnamed co-conspirators also attempted to secretly infiltrate  similar energy facilities in the US.

The August 2021 indictment identifying the three FSB officers was filed in US District Court in Kansas, and charges the group with numerous violations related to computer fraud and abuse, wire fraud, identity theft, and damaging an energy facility. Per the DOJ, the FSB officers — known colloquially as “Dragonfly,” “Berzerk Bear,” and “Energetic Bear” — worked for a period of five years, from 2012 to 2017 , on compromising “software and hardware that controls equipment in power generation facilities.” Had they been successful, they would have given the Russian government the ability to “disrupt or damage” computer systems controlling numerous energy sector…

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