An Idaho man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for hacking nearly a dozen entities in the US and stealing information from more than 132,000 people.
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The man, named as Robert Purbeck, 45, of Meridian, Idaho, attempted to use the stolen information to blackmail and harass one of his victims, an orthodontist from Florida.
According to court documents, in June 2017, Purbeck purchased credentials for the Griffin, Georgia medical clinic server on a dark web marketplace and then accessed the server to infiltrate sensitive information.
Purbeck stole records containing the names, addresses, dates of birth and social security numbers of more than 43,000 people.
In February 2018, he purchased credentials for a Newnan City Police Department server and then accessed it to steal police reports and other documents. Over 14,000 people were affected by the data breach.
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In July 2018, the man attempted to blackmail a Florida orthodontist, demanding a Bitcoin in exchange for deleting stolen patient records he had obtained through hacking. He threatened to sell the stolen data, along with the personal information of the orthodontist’s minor child, and harassed the orthodontist and his patients for 10 days.
In August 2019, the FBI executed a search warrant at Purbeck's home and seized numerous computers and electronic devices containing the personal information of more than 132,000 people.
The data was stolen in attacks against at least 19 victims in the US, including the city of Newnan and the Griffin.
Purbeck was convicted in March 2024 of fraud and computer misuse after pleading guilty. In addition to the prison sentence, he was ordered to pay more than $1 million in restitution to his victims.
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Hacking, as in the case of the Idaho man, is a term often used to describe the exploitation of computer systems and networks. Traditionally associated with skilled individuals manipulating software and networks to gain unauthorized access, the term has evolved to now often encompass ethical hacking practices. Ethical hackers work to identify and fix security vulnerabilities to protect against malicious attacks. In today’s digital age, both individuals and organizations must be vigilant about security practices to prevent unauthorized data breaches and protect sensitive information. Understanding the various techniques and strategies used in hacking is crucial to building stronger security defenses.
Source: securityweek
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