The FBI has arrested the alleged founder of a popular cybercriminal forum that touted data stolen in a hack affecting members of Congress and thousands of other people and taken the website down, the Justice Department said Friday.
The website – known as BreachForums – trafficked in the stolen data of millions of Americans until the FBI recently took it offline, the department said in a news release.
The alleged administrator of BreachForums, a 20-year-old New York man named Conor Brian Fitzpatrick, was arrested last week, according to the Justice Department. Fitzpatrick has been charged with conspiracy to commit access device fraud, which carries a sentence of five years in prison, the department said in the release.
The forum gained greater notoriety this month when a hacker posted data they claimed was stolen from a DC health insurance service – an incident that roiled Capitol Hill and exposed the personal data of tens of thousands of people from different walks of life. House of Representatives officials have said hundreds of staff were affected by the incident. The number of lawmakers affected is believed to be less than two dozen, a source familiar told CNN earlier this month.
Among the other victims of Fitzpatrick’s alleged hacking-related activities are a US electronic health care firm, a US internet services provider and a US-based investment firm, according to an affidavit filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The affidavit did not name the companies.
Fitzpatrick made his initial appearance in federal court on Friday, the Justice Department said. Fitzpatrick was released on a $300,000 bail, according to court documents, which was cosigned by members of his family.
A judge ordered Fitzpatrick not to contact any victims or co-conspirators in the investigation, open any new lines of cryptocurrency nor…
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