The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has charged Robert Westbrook, a 39-year-old from London, in a hack-to-trade fraud scheme that allegedly netted him nearly $3.75 million in illegal profits. Arrested last week, Westbrook is anticipated to be extradited to the U.S. to face serious charges, including securities fraud, wire fraud, and five counts of computer fraud. Court documents indicate that between January 2019 and May 2020, Westbrook gained unauthorized access to Microsoft 365 accounts belonging to corporate executives from several U.S.-based companies. By exploiting these accounts, he obtained confidential information about upcoming earnings announcements, which he then used to make profitable stock trades. To conceal his activities, Westbrook set up auto-forwarding rules to redirect emails from the compromised accounts to his own. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reported that he reset passwords to gain access to sensitive data ahead of at least 14 earnings announcements. Despite his efforts to remain anonymous, advanced data analytics and cryptocurrency tracing by the SEC helped uncover his fraudulent actions. Westbrook faces severe penalties, including up to 20 years in prison for securities and wire fraud, with fines potentially reaching millions of dollars. Each count of computer fraud carries a maximum sentence of five years. Organizations should strengthen email security, particularly for executives, by implementing strong passwords, two-factor authentication, and vigilant monitoring of account activities to prevent similar breaches.
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