Two men have been arrested after breaching the computer
services of Colorado based Photobucket, a company that operates an image and
video hosting website, announced U.S. Attorney John Walsh for the District of
Colorado and Special Agent in Charge Thomas Ravenelle for the Denver Division
of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI).
Brandon Bourret, 39, of Colorado Springs, Colorado and Athanasios
Andrianakis, 26, of Sunnyvale, California, were arrested today without incident
at their homes. Both made initial
appearances today, where they were advised of their rights and the charges
pending against them.
According to the indictment, beginning on July 12, 2012 and
continuing through July 1, 2014, Bourret and Andrianakis knowingly conspired to
commit acts and offenses against the United States, namely computer fraud and
abuse, access device fraud, identification document fraud and wire fraud. The indictment further alleges that there was
interdependence among the members of the conspiracy.
The purpose of the conspiracy was for the conspirators to
enrich themselves by selling passwords and unauthorized access to private and
password protected information, images and videos on the Internet and by
selling private and password protected information, images and videos that the
conspirators obtained from the Internet.
The conspirators developed, marketed and sold a software
application called Photofucket, which allowed viewers to circumvent the privacy
settings of the image and video hosting website at Photobucket.com and to
access and copy users private and password protected information, images and
videos without authorization. The
conspirators used Photofucket to obtain guest passwords to access users’
password protected albums. They also
transferred, or caused to be transferred, guest passwords to others who paid to
use the Photofucket application.
“It is not safe to hide behind your computer, breach
corporate servers and line your own pockets by victimizing those who have a
right to protected privacy on the internet,” said U.S. Attorney Walsh. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office is keenly focused
on prosecuting those people for their theft -- and for the wanton harm they do
to innocent internet users.”
“Unauthorized access into a secure computer system is a
serious federal crime,” said Special Agent in Charge Ravenelle. “The arrest of Brandon Bourret and his
co-conspirator reflects the FBI’s commitment to investigate those who undertake
activities such as this with the intent to harm a company and its
customers.”
The investigation regarding the breach and who’s albums were
accessed is ongoing. For those who want
to follow the status of this case, visit http://www.justice.gov/largecases –
and then select “Photobucket.” In
addition, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI commend Photobucket for their
cooperation from the inception of the investigation – and thanked them for
their continued assistance as both the investigation and prosecution moves
forward.
Bourret and Andrianakis both face one count of conspiracy,
which carries a penalty of not more than five years in federal prison and up to
a $250,000 fine. They each face one
count of computer fraud, aid and abet, which also carries a penalty of not more
than five years in federal prison and up to a $250,000 fine. Finally, they each face two counts of access
device fraud, which carries a penalty of not more than ten years in federal
prison, and up to a $250,000 fine, per count.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney
David Tonini.
The charges contained in the indictment are allegations and
the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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