Russian Man Indicted For Hacking Into LinkedIn, Dropbox,
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- A 29-year-old Russian man has been indicted for hacking into computers belonging to the San Francisco Bay Area companies LinkedIn, Dropbox and Formspring.
The indictment by a federal grand jury in Oakland, unsealed on Friday, alleges that Moscow resident Yevgeniy Aleksandrovich Nikulin illegally obtained information from the Silicon Valley companies' computers and caused damage to those computers. He was also indicted on computer intrusion and aggravated identity theft, among other charges.
LinkedIn issued a warning to its users in May alerting them that more than 100 million username and password combinations stolen in a cyberattack in 2012 were reportedly being put up for sale by the hacker.
Nikulin has remained in custody in Prague since he was arrested on October 5 by officials in the Czech Republic as a result of an Interpol Red Notice, a type of international warrant.
Nikulin went by the online aliases itBlackHat, Chinabig01, dex007, and valeriy.krutov3 and had three co-conspirators, according to the indictment.
Nikulin faces maximum penalties of up to 32 years in prison and over $1.25 million in fines.
By Hannah Albarazi - Follow her on Twitter: @hannahalbarazi.
