Security News > 2024 > January > US govt wants BreachForums admin sentenced to 15 years in prison
The United States government has recommended that Conor Brian Fitzpatrick, the creator and lead administrator of the now-defunct BreachForums hacking forums, receive a sentence of 15 years in prison.
"The defendant's administration of BreachForums played an instrumental role in bringing together more than 300,000 members to solicit, distribute, and access thousands of breached databases containing the stolen data of hundreds of companies, organizations, and governmental organizations of varying size and the PII of millions of U.S. persons," reads the sentencing proposal.
In addition to being the admin of BreachForums, the U.S. government says Fitzpatrick acted as a middleman for the sale of stolen data between other users of the site, encouraging threat actors to leak samples of stolen data.
"The defendant's middleman service substantially facilitated and encouraged the dissemination of hacked or stolen data through BreachForums because it enabled purchasers and sellers to verify the means of payment and contraband files being sold prior to executing the purchase and sale," explains the sentencing proposal.
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