Tag Archive for: northern

Northern District of Iowa | Iowa Air National Guardsman Pleads Guilty to Possessing Child Pornography


Kevin Swanson, 35, from Sioux City, Iowa, entered a guilty plea in federal court on May 4, 2023, to possession of child pornography.

In a plea agreement, Swanson admitted that between August 2020, and August 2021, he used an Internet-based, peer-to-peer (P2P) network to knowingly receive visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, including depictions involving prepubescent minors who had not reached the age of 12.  Swanson had over 1,168 images and 4 video files of child exploitation materials.

Sentencing before United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand will be set for a later date after a presentence report is prepared.  Swanson was taken into custody by the United States Marshal pending sentencing.  Swanson faces a sentence of up to 20 years imprisonment without the possibility of parole, a fine of not more than $250,000, a mandatory special assessment of $100 and a term of supervised release of at least 5 years to life.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, 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 the 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 Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc.  For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”

The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the Sioux City Police Department, and the Nebraska State Patrol.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kraig R. Hamit.

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl

The case file number is 22-4080.  Follow us on Twitter @USAO_NDIA.

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Northern District of Iowa | Man Who Possessed Child Pornography Sentenced to Over Five Years in Prison


A man who possessed over 3,500 photographs and 25 videos of child pornography was sentenced today to more than 5 years in federal prison.

Stephen Gruber, age 60, from Sumner, Iowa, received the prison term after an October 13, 2022 guilty plea to possession of child pornography.

At the guilty plea, Gruber admitted he possessed child pornography on his computer between November 2016 and March 2017.

Gruber was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams.  Gruber was sentenced to 63 months’ imprisonment.  He was also ordered to make restitution.  He must also serve a 5-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, 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 the 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 Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc.  For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”

Gruber is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Liz Dupuich and investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and the Sumner Police Department.. 

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl

The case file number is 22-cr-2054.

Follow us on Twitter @USAO_NDIA.

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Battle against the hackers: Councils across Northern Ireland step up online security after recent attempted cyber attacks


Councils across Northern Ireland are acting to combat the current “heightened” threat of cyber attacks.

ne council has admitted it is dealing with “daily” attempted attacks on its computer systems.

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Northern Ontario police force recovering from ransomware attack


A Northern Ontario police force is still trying to recover from a ransomware attack last week.

Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., police put out a statement today saying its 911 service was not affected, nor was its online reporting system for less urgent crimes. “At no time was our ability to respond to calls for service compromised,” the statement said.

However, the force’s email service isn’t available. It has not said whether its police dispatch or records systems were impacted.

The statement said the force became aware of the ransomware attack on Thursday, August 26th, and added, “Information Technology staff are working through the attack to regain access to affected systems.”

Government departments and services such as police forces are considered by some attackers to be prime targets on the assumption they are more likely to pay a ransom because they provide critical infrastructure services.

Earlier this year those behind the ransomware attack on the Washington, D.C. police force threatened to release copied personal data on police officers and informants unless a US$4 million ransom was paid. The department offered $100,000, which was reportedly refused. After that extensive profiles of 22 officers including their Social Security numbers and dates of birth were published, possibly putting them at risk.

Ransomware gangs operate at two levels: Some are wholly-contained operations, while others run ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS)operations, where affiliate members actually do the targeting and hacking. Some cybersecurity vendors report RaaS gangs have lately become nervous as their affiliates target high-profile targets — such as hospitals and pipelines — which are more likely to attract hostile public reaction and combined attention of law enforcement.

For example, after attacking the U.S. Colonial Pipeline — which resulted in the pipeline being temporarily shut down and creating long lines at East Coast gas stations — the web servers of the Darkside ransomware group were seized, as well as its payment server. It is assumed the U.S. had something to do with that.

Subsequently the Darkside group apparently re-emerged calling itself BlackMatter. It listed a number of…

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