In a case regarding what has been called one of the largest reported data breaches in US history, the FBI has recently unsealed their indictments against Viet Quoc Nguyen and Giang Hoang Vu, both of whom are citizens of Vietnam. They are charged with breaking laws related to a major data breach of e-mail service providers in the United States. In addition, they have added a new indictment against David-Manuel Santos Da Silva of Canada, who is accused of conspiring with Nguyen.
Da Silva was the co-owner, President and a Director of 21 Celsius, Inc, which is a Canadian corporation that operated Affiliate network MarketBay.com. It is alleged that Da Silva began an affiliate marketing arrangement with Nguyen, which made it possible for Nguyen to generate significant revenue from the computer hacks that had taken place.
Through the Marketbay platform, Nguyen was able to market directly to the millions of people whose email information he had gained through hacking. He would then be paid an affiliate commission for every purchase that was made.
According to the allegations from the FBI, Da Silva knew that Nguyen was using the solten email addresses to produce the large levels of internet traffic to his affiliate products. He is even accused of conspiring directly with Nguyen and others to encourage further hacking to gain additional emails, which would be used to generate the web traffic and lead to sales.
The case is still under investigation, and all involved are innocent until proven guilty. The investigation is being conducted by the FBI with hep from the US Secret Service and the IRS criminal investigation division. Law enforcement agencies in the Netherlands are also providing assistance as Nguyen lived there for a time while the hacks were being performed. The prosecutor in this case is Assistant US Attorney Steven D. Grimberg.
You can see the full press release on this from the FBI HERE.
