A British national has been extradited to the U.S. for his alleged participation in “The Dark Overlord” hacker group that stole data from several Missouri companies and demanded ransom paid in bitcoin.
Nathan Wyatt, appearing in St. Louis’ Federal District Court Wednesday, pleaded not guilty to charges he damaged a protected computer and other counts in his efforts to extort the companies.
He is an alleged member of the international hacker collective known as “The Dark Overlord.” That group came to prominence through brazen attacks on healthcare organizations and insurance companies, including a data dump of 9/11-linked insurance files in late 2018 and early 2019.
In the Missouri case, The Dark Overlord group reportedly stole some 48,000 patient documents – Social Security numbers, dates of birth, names, addresses – from a Farmington medical facility.
The group demanded a ransom; the facility refused to pay, Health IT Security reported. The Dark Overlord proceeded to offer the records for sale on the dark web for $100,000.
Wyatt is alleged to have participated in The Dark Overlord’s Missouri extortions. He is said to have created the email and phone accounts that sent threatening messages to targets, and in some cases their family members.
“Cyber criminals who harm victims in the Eastern District of Missouri cannot hide behind international borders to evade justice,” said U.S. Attorney Jeffrey B. Jensen of the Eastern District of Missouri. “Today’s case demonstrates the United States’ commitment to unmasking criminal hackers and bringing them to justice, no matter where they may be located.”