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BREADCRUMB

 1. Justice.gov
 2. U.S. Attorneys
 3. Western District of Washington
 4. Press Releases
 5. Former Seattle Tech Worker Indicted On Federal Charges For Wire Fraud and
    Computer Data Theft


Press Release


FORMER SEATTLE TECH WORKER INDICTED ON FEDERAL CHARGES FOR WIRE FRAUD AND
COMPUTER DATA THEFT

Wednesday, August 28, 2019
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For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Washington
Indictment Cites more than 30 Victims of Data Intrusion and Theft

          A former Seattle technology company software engineer was indicted
today by a federal grand jury on two counts related to her unauthorized
intrusion into stored data of more than 30 different companies, announced U.S.
Attorney Brian T. Moran.  PAIGE A. THOMPSON a/k/a erratic, 33, will be arraigned
on the indictment in U.S. District Court in Seattle on September 5, 2019. 
 THOMPSON remains in custody.

          THOMPSON is charged with wire fraud and computer fraud and abuse for
the intrusion into data of Capital One and more than 30 other entities.  Law
enforcement has identified many of the victims whose data was accessed and is
working to notify them.  The indictment describes some of the victims as a state
agency outside the State of Washington; a telecommunications conglomerate
outside the United States; and a public research university outside the State of
Washington.

          According to the indictment, THOMPSON created scanning software that
allowed her to identify customers of a cloud computing company who had
misconfigured their firewalls, allowing outside commands to penetrate and access
their servers.  THOMPSON used this access not only to steal data, but also used
stolen computer power to “mine” cryptocurrency for her own benefit, a practice
known as “cryptojacking.” 

           Law enforcement became aware of THOMPSON’s activity after she shared
information with another user on the site GitHub relating to her theft of
information from the servers storing Capital One data.  On July 17, 2019, the
GitHub user alerted Capital One to the possibility it had suffered a data
theft.  After determining on July 19, 2019, that there had been an intrusion
into its data, Capital One contacted the FBI.  Cyber investigators confirmed
THOMPSON was the person responsible for the data theft.   On July 29, 2019,
agents executed a search warrant at THOMPSON’s residence and seized electronic
storage devices containing a copy of the data.   Investigators have found no
evidence that THOMPSON sold or disseminated any of the information she accessed.

            The charges in the indictment carry penalties of up to 25 years in
prison.

            The charges contained in the indictment are only allegations.  A
person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a
reasonable doubt in a court of law.

            The case is being investigated by the FBI.  The case is being
prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Steven Masada and Andrew
Friedman.



thompson_indictment.pdf



Contact

Press contact for the U.S. Attorney’s Office is Communications Director Emily
Langlie at (206) 553-4110 or Emily.Langlie@usdoj.gov.

Updated August 28, 2019

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Attachment
thompson_indictment.pdf   [PDF, 596 KB]
Topics
Cybercrime
Component
USAO - Washington, Western


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