Cyber Attacker Sentenced to 10 Years for Major Data Breaches Targeting Healthcare Providers

A man in Idaho going by the aliases of "Lifelock," "Studmaster," and "Studmaster1” has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to targeting multiple healthcare providers in a series of cyberattacks.

The data breaches happened after the perpetrator obtained medical office credentials from the dark web in Summer 2017.

The initial target was a medical clinic in Georgia, where he successfully obtained the personal identifying information of over 43,000 individuals. This data comprised names, social security numbers, and other sensitive details.

Over six months later, the attacker targeted the Newnan, Georgia police department, stealing police reports and sensitive data of 14,000 people. Weeks afterward, he stole data from another medical practice in the same state.

Nearly a year after his initial breach, the individual purchased credentials to access the server of an orthodontist in Florida. After acquiring the information of approximately 1,800 individuals, the attacker escalated his actions by attempting to extort the orthodontist, demanding payment through bitcoin, or threatening to release sensitive documents. Over the following ten days, the threat actor allegedly continued to harass the patients of the orthodontist with threats.

"Lifelock" didn't realize his location in Idaho was being logged when connecting to these computers. This left a digital footprint that investigators could track back to him. When using Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), your location is logged through your IP address, which can provide detailed information about your location to anyone accessing these logs.

Following a guilty plea, the individual was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment, three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay over $1,000,000 in restitution.