British man charged by US in 'IntelBroker' company data hacks
West hacked into his victims' computer systems, gained access to information including customer lists and marketing data, and sold the stolen records for profit, seeking to collect more than US$2.4mil (RM10.14mil), prosecutors said. — Pixabay
A 25-year-old British man known as "IntelBroker' was accused by US authorities of conspiring with a group of hackers to steal data from dozens of companies and offer it for sale online, causing more than US$25mil (RM 105.62mil) in damages to victims around the world.
Federal prosecutors in New York on Wednesday announced an indictment had been unsealed charging Kai West, 25, with four counts including conspiracy to commit computer intrusions. West was arrested in February in France, where he remains in custody, prosecutors said in a statement. The US is seeking his extradition.
West hacked into his victims' computer systems, gained access to information including customer lists and marketing data, and sold the stolen records for profit, seeking to collect more than US$2.4mil (RM10.14mil), prosecutors said. West, who also went by the name "Kyle Northern', led an online hacking group that frequented an Internet forum that officials didn't disclose, according to the indictment.
While none of the victims were identified by prosecutors, IntelBroker had claimed breaches at a number of technology companies in recent years, including Advanced Micro Devices Inc, Cisco Systems Inc and Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co.
In June 2024, AMD said it was looking into claims that company information had been stolen in a hack in reponse to reports that IntelBroker had said he breached its systems on a site called "BreachForums', one of the the largest English-language markets for hackers to sell stolen data. The forum enables extortion of companies around the world and gives cybercriminals a place to profit off their theft, according to authorities.
A Peekskill, New York, man who ran the site, Conor Brian Fitzpatrick, was arrested at his home in March 2023 and pleaded guilty a few months later. He was sentenced to time served and 20 years of supervised release in January 2024, but he's scheduled to be resentenced next month after an appeals court agreed with the government that his punishment was too lenient.
According to the complaint in West's case, the forum was launched in March 2022 and shut down the following year by law enforcement around the time that Fitzpatrick was arrested. It was relaunched in May 2024 and remains active. From about August 2024 through January, IntelBroker was identified on the forum as its "owner,' prosecutors said.
West offered data for sale about 41 times and offered to distribute it for free, or for credits for the online forum that increases users' clout and allowed them to access advanced features, about 117 times, between 2023 and 2025, prosecutors said. He faces as much as 20 years in prison if convicted on the most serious charge.
Victims of West's scheme include a municipal government healtchare provider, a US-based telecommunications provider and an Internet services provider. Investigators said they identified West partially through his cryptocurrency accounts after an undercover officer bought data from IntelBroker for US$250 (RM1,056) worth of Bitcoin through private messages sent via the forum.
While West usually asked for compensation for companies' data in Monero, a cryptocurrency with enhanced privacy, Bitcoin had less protection and allowed investigators to link West's email accounts to the wallets that the undercover officer made payment to, according to court documents.
French prosecutors didn't immediately respond to an email seeking more details on his arrest. Lawyers for West couldn't be immediately identified. – Bloomberg
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