Overview
- Ryan James Roach was extradited from Canada on October 28 and was arraigned in U.S. District Court in Western New York on November 3.
- A federal grand jury indicted Roach and Mathiew James Stubbings on charges including conspiracy to obtain information and to cause damage to protected computers, obtaining information from a protected computer, and intentional computer damage.
- Prosecutors allege the campaign ran from June 2016 through December 2019 and hit at least four U.S. universities in New York, Massachusetts, North Carolina and Tennessee, including machines identified as supercomputers.
- Court filings say the defendants used virtual private servers registered under false names, deployed malware and mining software, stole login credentials, pivoted through compromised systems, and that the hijacked hardware mined Electroneum.
- Officials allege the pair damaged ten or more protected computers, caused at least $5,000 in losses, are seeking forfeiture of devices and proceeds, and say the case highlights the need for cross-border cooperation and stronger campus controls on credentials and unusual processing use.