Tag Archive for: Defendants

Suffolk documents posted by hackers include traffic tickets with defendants’ names, and county contracts

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Documents published by a group taking responsibility for the ransomware attack on Suffolk County government include speeding tickets, contracts with county vendors, and a handwritten marriage license from 1908, according to a Newsday review of the materials.

Such documents, which in some cases show the names, addresses and dates of birth of county residents, could contain increasingly sensitive information as hackers press their demands, one cybersecurity expert said.

Steve Morgan, founder of Cybersecurity Ventures in Northport, which provides data and research to the information technology industry, said ransomware hackers sometimes will start by leaking less sensitive data in what they consider to be a show of good faith to open ransom negotiations.

“They’re putting data out to try to provide evidence that we have your data, and we’re willing to put your data out, but without putting out anything that would be too compromising to scare the county,” Morgan told Newsday Monday.

Morgan said hackers could continue to leak increasingly sensitive information to ramp up pressure on the county.

“The worst of what they have is the last that would get published,” Morgan said.

Suffolk County took down its web-based applications and websites on Sept. 8 following a cyberattack on county computer systems.

On Friday, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone announced cybercriminals had taken credit for a hack on county government.

Bellone said county officials were working to protect sensitive information.

County officials referred to postings on the “dark web” — an anonymized portion of the internet where criminal activity can occur — attributing the attack to the BlackCat or ALPHV strain of ransomware.

County officials have not said whether hackers have made a ransom demand, and have offered no timeline for when county operations could be back online.

An updated posting Monday said the hackers were seeking an unspecified “small reward.”

County officials did not respond immediately for comment last night.

Earlier Monday, Marykate Guilfoyle, a spokeswoman for Bellone, said county officials were continuing to assess the attack.

In their post on the dark…

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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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Secure Axcess Licenses Internet Security Technology to Harris Bank and Six Other Defendants in Patent Infringement Litigation – Business Wire

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PLANO, Texas–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Secure Axcess LLC, a Texas-based company specializing in internet security technology, announced today that Chicago-based Harris Bank and six other financial institutions have settled patent infringement litigation with the …
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