Security news
Security news7 February 2005
Man pleads guilty to stealing 92 million AOL email addresses, Sophos reports on spam case
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| 92 million AOL email addresses are said to be in the hands of spammers. |
A 24-year-old former AOL employee, has pleaded guilty to stealing a list of 92 million email addresses of the ISP's customers and selling it to spammers for $28,000.
Jason Smathers of Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, told Judge Alvin Hellerstein at the US District Court in Manhattan, that he sold the list of email addresses to a man planning to market an offshore gambling website to AOL customers, knowing that the list of screen names might end up in the hands of other spammers.
According to the authorities, Smathers - who was fired by AOL in June 2004 - used another employee's access code to steal the list of AOL customers from its headquarters in Dulles, Virginia.
Smathers is alleged to have sold the list to 21-year-old Sean Dunaway of Las Vegas, to promote an internet gambling website before being sold on to others. One of the other spammers reported the theft to the authorities following his own prosecution, according to court papers. Charges are pending against Dunaway.
"The valuable list of AOL subscribers is still believed to be circulating amongst the spammer community - although the ISP is working hard to defend its users from junk email," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. "It is encouraging to see the authorities cracking down on those who abuse the internet and make online life a misery for countless millions of web users."
Smathers, who is due to be sentenced in May, could face between 18-24 months in jail, and fines of between $200,000-$400,000.
Sophos recommends companies protect themselves with a consolidated solution which can defend businesses from the threats of both spam and viruses.
