Three Indicted For History’s Biggest Email Hack

Three hackers who perpetrated the “largest data breach of names and email addresses in the history of the internet,” have been indicted, Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell said in a Justice Department statement. “The defendants allegedly made millions of dollars by stealing over a billion email addresses from email service providers,” she said. Acting U.S. Attorney John Horn called the scope of the attack “unnerving,” noting that the hackers did not stop at stealing companies’ proprietary data, and instead hijacked corporate distribution systems to send bulk emails.

The three indicted in the case operated from Vietnam, the Netherlands, and Canada. “This case again demonstrates the resolve of the Department of Justice to bring accused cyber hackers from overseas to face justice in the United States,” Caldwell said. The actions are the result of years of work by the FBI and foreign law enforcement, DOJ said.