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Two suspects worked in Mason, where hacking threats were made

The Associated Press

An Ohio man will plead guilty to sending anonymous YouTube threats in which he claimed to have hacked into the University of Pittsburgh’s computer system on the heels of a series of unrelated disruptive bomb threats, his attorney told The Associated Press.

Brett Hudson will admit he’s guilty “and he’s going to get on with his life,” defense attorney Warner Mariani said.

Hudson, 26, of Hillsboro, Ohio, is scheduled to enter the plea Oct. 17 in federal court. He and Alexander Waterland, 24, of Loveland, Ohio, were indicted in August on a charge of conspiring to commit interstate extortion using a computer. The FBI says the men claimed to be members of the hacking group Anonymous who had obtained confidential computer information on students and faculty.

Waterland has pleaded not guilty and his attorney didn’t immediately return a call Tuesday. Online court records indicate he still plans to contest the charge at trial.

Neither man is charged in connection with the bomb threats — which were first scrawled on men’s room stalls and later emailed to the school or local media outlets — in the weeks before the hacker threats surfaced in late April.

“We are anonymous! We are Legion!” said one email threat which purported to have some of the stolen information attached to it. “We are your brothers & sisters! We are the students and faculty of Pitt! We are your worst nightmare! The internet is here! You Will now Expect US!”

The Ohio men both worked as computer technicians for Express Scripts, an online prescription drug company in Mason, Ohio, when the hacking threats were made. Mariani said both have lost their jobs.

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Posted in: News |

Tags: Tags: alexander waterland, anonymous, bomb threats, brett hudson, david hickton, express scripts, hackers, hacking, hillsboro, loveland, mason, pitt, prescription drug company, threats, university of pittsburgh, warner mariani, youtube

Federal investigators say they’ve linked internet threats back to a Loveland man and a device owned by the Mason business he worked at.

The Associated Press reports:

An Ohio man was arrested Wednesday on federal charges that he posted an anonymous YouTube video and a follow-up comment claiming to have stolen computer records from the University of Pittsburgh and threatening to release them unless the school’s chancellor made a public apology.

Alexander Waterland, 24, a Loveland man who worked as a computer specialist for an online prescription drug service (in Mason), was released on bond by a federal magistrate in Cincinnati, with the understanding that he will appear before a magistrate in western Pennsylvania next week, according to U.S. Attorney David Hickton’s office in Pittsburgh, which is prosecuting the case.

Hickton said he could not answer questions because the investigation was continuing into Waterland’s alleged activities, as well as bomb threats — some emailed and others written in bathroom stalls of campus buildings — that disrupted classes and dorm life for weeks this year.

Waterland is not charged with making the bomb threats. He faces one count each of interstate threats and extortion and Internet extortion involving a protected computer. The Pitt computers are considered “protected” under federal law because they contain the personal information of students, faculty and staff.

Pitt officials did not immediately return requests for comment on Waterland’s arrest, but have previously said the computer records now being linked to the charges against Waterland were never actually hacked.

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Posted in: Crime, News |

Tags: Tags: alexander waterland, crime, express scripts, extortion, internet threats, interstate threats, loveland, mason, online prescription drug service, pittsburgh, u.s. attorney david hickton, university of pittsburgh