Massachusetts 19-year-old pleading guilty to stealing, extorting teacher and student private data

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A Massachusetts assemblage pupil volition plead blameworthy to stealing millions of students' and teachers' backstage information from 2 U.S. acquisition tech companies and extorting it for ransom

BOSTON, Mass. -- A Massachusetts assemblage pupil volition plead blameworthy to stealing millions of students' and teachers' backstage information from 2 U.S. acquisition tech companies and extorting it for ransom, the U.S. attorney's bureau said.

Assumption University pupil Matthew Lane, 19, is accused of utilizing stolen login credentials to entree the machine web of a bundle and unreality retention institution serving schoolhouse systems successful the U.S. and abroad, according to U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts Leah B. Foley.

PowerSchool was not named successful the tribunal filings, but a root acquainted with the lawsuit confirmed the company’s involvement.

According to tribunal records, Lane is past alleged to person threatened the merchandise of 60 cardinal students' and 10 cardinal teachers' names, telephone numbers, Social Security numbers, residential addresses and aesculapian histories if the institution did not wage a ransom of astir $2.85 cardinal successful Bitcoin.

Foley said Lane’s actions “instilled fearfulness successful parents that their kids’ accusation had been leaked into the hands of criminals – each to enactment a notch successful his hacking belt.”

An lawyer representing Lane didn’t instrumentality a telephone telephone from The Associated Press requesting remark connected Wednesday. Lane, of Sterling, Mass., faces counts of cyber extortion conspiracy, cyber extortion and unauthorized entree to protected computers and aggravated individuality theft. A plea proceeding has not yet been scheduled.

Lane is besides accused of extorting a $200,000 ransom outgo from different telecommunications institution past outpouring by threatening to merchandise lawsuit data.

“Matthew Lane seemingly thought helium recovered a mode to get affluent quick, but this 19-year-old present stands accused of hiding down his keyboard to summation unauthorized entree to an acquisition bundle supplier to get delicate information which was utilized successful an effort to extort millions of dollars,” said Kimberly Milka, Acting Special Agent successful Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division.