A Cypriot man was appointed by the United States court as the main person responsible for an invasion and extortion scheme for websites and companies. Joshua Epifaniou appeared in a Georgia state court on Monday (25) and pleaded guilty to charges of fraud and theft of confidential information, paying $ 600,000 in damages to those affected.
The hacker was arrested and extradited from Cyprus in 2017 after U.S. officials confirmed his involvement in an active scheme between 2014 and 2016. He used Alexa, the public online hearing system, to compile lists of potential victims. Subsequently, it relied on the help of cronies with access to internal systems or exploited security flaws to obtain sensitive data that was then used as extortion tools in exchange for cryptocurrency payments.
In one case, Epifaniou received a $ 19,000 payment in bitcoins from the media company Turner, which was trying to avoid leaking the Bleacher Report's registered base. In another, the profile information and bank details of users of Armor Games, which makes games available through the browser, were vulnerable - the ransom, in this case, was the US $ 1,650.
For such occurrences, the hacker was indicted for conspiracy to commit fraud and invasion of restricted systems, in addition to extortion. In addition, a third charge, brought by the authorities of the US state of Arizona, is related to the offer to manipulate the evaluation site Ripoff Report. According to authorities, Epifaniou used pseudonyms to contact companies that had negative comments on the platform, claiming to have internal access to it and charging $ 3,000 to $ 5,000 to delete publications.
Epifanio's admission of guilt is part of an agreement with the US Justice, which exchanges the minimum sentence of 20 years in prison for a quarter of that, with three years of supervised freedom after the execution. In addition, he agreed to work for the country's government as an undercover investigator, helping to uncover new schemes for fraud and exploitation of digital vulnerabilities, in addition to paying a fine equivalent to $ 473,000.
The hacker has been in jail since the end of last year and is expected to remain in custody until sentencing, scheduled for March 3. In a statement, the United States Department of Justice thanked international authorities, especially those in Cyprus, who collaborated with the investigations led by the FBI.
Source: US Department of Justice
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