The ShinyHunters group is known for some of the largest data breaches in 2021-2022, in which the personal data of hundreds of millions of users was leaked on the now-seized Raidforums. In July 2022, HackRead.com reported on Sebastian Raoult, an alleged member of the ShinyHunters hacking group, who was arrested at Rabat International Airport in Morocco at the request of the United States. This week, the 21-year-old French citizen from Epinal City was extradited to the U.S. and charged with nine counts, including conspiracy, computer intrusion, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft. Raoult pleaded not guilty to the cybercrimes on Friday in Seattle federal court. The presiding Magistrate Judge, Michelle Peterson, ordered him to be detained as a flight risk until a hearing on the 3rd of April 2023.
According to the indictment announced by U.S. Attorney Nick Brown, Sebastien Raoult, also known as Sezyo Kaizen, was a member of a hacking group that called itself ShinyHunters. They are known for targeting high-profile companies, stealing their databases, and selling them on the dark web as well as clearnet. Over the years, HackRead.com has extensively reported on the activities of the ShinyHunters group. The group has claimed responsibility for several high-profile data breaches. These include companies in the United States, India, Indonesia, Brazil, and many more. It is worth noting that ShinyHunters was mainly active on the now-seized Raidforums. These data breaches include: 123RF - 8.3M accounts leaked, Mashable - 5.22GB worth of data, Minted - 5 million accounts leaked, Dunzo - 11GB worth of data leaked, AT&T Inc. - 70 million accounts sold, ProctorU - 444,267 accounts leaked, WedMeGood - 41.5 GB worth of data, Dave.com - 7 million accounts leaked, Bhinneka - 1 million+ accounts leaked, WattPad - 271 million accounts leaked, Tokopedia - 91 million accounts leaked, Big Basket - 20 million accounts leaked, Couchsurfing - 17 million accounts leaked, and Animal Jam - Tens of millions of users data, especially children.
In addition to Raoult, two other French nationals have been indicted for their involvement with the ShinyHunters hacking group. Gabriel Bildstein, 23, and Abdel-Hakim El-Ahmadi, 22, were arrested along with Raoult. According to a report from Moroccan media, the young mans father, Paul Raoult, denounced the Moroccan court, saying his son was Betrayed by France. He was sold to the Americans. What is France waiting for to regain control of this file? he said. Raoults lawyer, Philippe Ohayon, also denounced the U.S. extradition request, claiming that the case fell under French jurisdiction since the alleged acts were committed in France by a French national(s).
Due to the U.S. extradition request being granted, Raoult now stands to face a harsh sentence that could reach up to 100 years of incarceration under the American penal code.
This Cyber News was published on www.hackread.com. Publication date: Sun, 29 Jan 2023 00:09:03 +0000