prison
Data analyst sent to prison for stealing data, extorting employer
A former data analyst contractor for Brightly Software has been sentenced to two years in prison for targeting his employer in a $2.5 million extortion scheme. Brightly is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company formerly known as SchoolDude, which was acquired by Siemens in August 2022. Brightly employs over 700 people and provides asset management and maintenance software to […]
Member of The Com sent to prison for blackmail, sextortion
A member of “The Com,” a loose-knit online cybercrime collective that targets children and teenagers, has been sentenced to two years in prison for blackmail and sextortion offenses against nearly 120 victims worldwide. 20-year-old Justin Swaddle from Leeds (known as ‘Epstein’, ‘Rugen’ and ‘Moscow’ on Snapchat, Telegram, and Discord) was first arrested in October 2023 […]
Ransom Cartel ransomware creator sentenced to 16 years in prison
Maksim Silnikau, the creator and administrator of the Ransom Cartel ransomware operation, was sentenced to 16 years in prison for his role in ransomware attacks against at least 18 companies worldwide. The U.S. Department of Justice announced today that the 40-year-old Belarusian national was sentenced for conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States, conspiracy […]
Man gets six years for hacking 750 women’s Snapchat accounts
An Illinois man was sentenced on Tuesday to 76 months in prison and three years of supervised release for hacking the Snapchat accounts of over 750 women to steal nude photos, which he later traded or sold online. After being charged in December, 26-year-old defendant Kyle Svara admitted in February to having used various social engineering tactics to phish […]
Ryuk ransomware member pleads guilty in the US, faces 15 years in prison
A 34-year-old Armenian man has pleaded guilty to hacking U.S. companies and deploying the infamous Ryuk ransomware to encrypt their systems. Karen Serobovich Vardanyan was extradited to the United States after being arrested in Kyiv in April 2025 for providing initial access to corporate networks. According to court documents, Vardanyan helped deploy Ryuk ransomware on the networks […]
Poland busts SIM-swapping gang tied to millions in crypto theft
Authorities in Poland have arrested four members of an organized cybercrime group accused of breaching telecommunications partners and hijacking email accounts to carry out SIM-swapping attacks. The operation was carried out by the Polish Cybercrime Bureau (CBZC) with support from the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in the United States. According to investigators, the suspects […]
DraftKings hacker ‘Snoopy’ sentenced to 18 months in prison
A 21-year-old using the alias “Snoopy” was sentenced to 18 months in prison for his role in hacking DraftKings accounts in the November 2022 cyberattack. In December 2025, the man, Nathan Austad of Minnesota, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit computer intrusion, admitting that he and co-conspirators compromised 60,000 DraftKings user accounts. During the attack, the […]
Dark web Nemesis Market vendor gets 26 years for selling drugs
A California man was sentenced to more than 26 years in federal prison for trafficking fentanyl and methamphetamine through Nemesis Market, one of the world’s largest dark web marketplaces. 39-year-old Darren Hughes of San Jose was convicted on drug trafficking charges in November 2025 and was sentenced by U.S. District Judge John F. Kness on […]
Romanian gets 5 years in prison for hacking Oregon govt network
A Romanian national was sentenced this week to 56 months in federal prison for breaking into an Oregon state government computer network and fr cyberattacks targeting dozens of other U.S. victims. 46-year-old Catalin Dragomir (who used the online handle “inthematrixl”) of Constanta, Romania, pleaded guilty on February 19 to one count of aggravated identity theft and one count of […]
Sextortionist sentenced to 33 years for targeting 145 children
A Canadian man was sentenced to 33 years in prison after pleading guilty to targeting more than 145 children across the United States, some as young as 6 years old, in an eight-year-long sextortion scheme. 40-year-old Ramanan Pathmanathan pleaded guilty on January 30, 2026, to one count of coercion and enticement of a minor and one count […]