Pierluigi Paganini December 19, 2019

The DoJ announced that the alleged member of the notorious hacker group The Dark Overlord has been extradited to the United States.

The Department of Justice (DoJ) announced that the alleged member of The Dark Overlord hacking group has been extradited from the United Kingdom to the US.

The man, Nathan Wyatt, 39, has been charged by U.S. authorities on six counts of aggravated identity theft, threatening to damage a protected computer, and conspiracy.

“A United Kingdom national appeared today in federal court on charges of aggravated identity theft, threatening to damage a protected computer, and conspiring to commit those and other computer fraud offenses, related to his role in a computer hacking collective known as “The Dark Overlord,” which targeted victims in the St. Louis, Missouri, area beginning in 2016.” reads the press release published by the DoJ.

“Nathan Wyatt, 39, was extradited from the United Kingdom to the Eastern District of Missouri and arraigned on Dec. 18 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Shirley Padmore Mensah.  He pleaded not guilty and was detained pending further proceedings.”

The investigation was led by the FBI’s St. Louis Field Office with the support of the FBI’s Atlanta Field Office. The extradition of the hacker was coordinated by the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs.

The Dark Overlord is a hacking crew that breached systems of many in the United States and in the United Kingdom, including companies in the entertainment, healthcare, legal and finance. The group stole sensitive records and information from the victims and then threatened them to release the data unless the companies paid a ransom. 

“Today’s extradition shows that the hackers hiding behind The Dark Overlord moniker will be held accountable for their alleged extortion of American companies,” said Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.  “We are thankful for the close cooperation of our partners in the United Kingdom in ensuring that the defendant will face justice in U.S. court.”

According to the indictment, Wyatt used email and telephone accounts to send messages used to threaten the hacked companies of releasing their information.

“a. WYATT registered a telephone account (Account A) used in the course of the conspiracy to register a virtual private network account and Twitter account used by conspirators to conduct the scheme.” reads the indictment.

“b. WYATT registered a telephone account (Account B) used in the course of the conspiracy to send threatening and extortionate text messages to victims. “

The indictment provides details about the criminal activities conducted by Wyatt from February 2016 to June 2017. Wyatt has been arrested in the United Kingdom in 2017 after pleading guilty to separate charges, including blackmail and using stolen payment card data.

Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – The Dark Overlord, hacking)

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