Do you remember hearing about a notorious computer hacker by the alias of “Lifelock”? Let me tell you, in 2018, this bloke contacts DataBreaches and starts dishing the dirt on two healthcare organisations. Apparently, they didn’t cough up the ransom he demanded. One was a dental clinic in California, and the other was an eye surgery centre in Michigan.
Now, the eye surgery case quickly gained a lot of attention from DataBreaches. It seems the hospital knew they’d been breached as far back as 2016, yet they kept mum. Yes, you heard it right! They didn’t inform those affected or the Health and Human Services (HHS) as they should have. An investigation by DataBreaches confirmed all this, and a formal complaint was even lodged with the HHS.
What’s curious is Lifelock’s angle in all this. He’d try to expose his victims through publicised media coverage, like a bizarre Robin Hood in the digital world. His operations paralleled another cybercriminal, thedarkoverlord, and he would send long, rude emails to his victims, obsessing about his outstanding payday. No surprises here, the FBI took notice. They even secured a search warrant for his Idaho home in 2019. And guess what they found? Loads of suspicious devices and materials.
Fast forward to 2021, Lifelock, or shall we rather call him by his real name, Robert A. Purbeck, gets arrested and indicted. But let’s clear something up: These weren’t the cases linked to thedarkoverlord. The indictment lists different victims, including healthcare facilities in Georgia, Florida, and a city in Newnan. He also wasn’t indicted for the 2018 breaches he shared with DataBreaches.
Since his arrest, Purbeck has been quite busy, filing multiple legal challenges, trying everything from having evidence suppressed to reclaiming his confiscated devices. Even the appellate court saw him three times. He also sued the people involved in his arrest. Unfortunately for him, though, he didn’t have much success, and his trial was set for May.
But hang on a sec… recent dockets suggest that Purbeck might plead guilty. If that happens, there’ll be discussions on sentencing recommendations and negotiations ahead. Curious as to the charges? There were 11 in total, covering everything from computer fraud to fraud by wire, radio, or television, and even producing counterfeit devices.
Now, when pleading guilty, Purbeck has to fess up to his crimes, stating that the charges are accurate and the prosecution has the goods to back it up. But there’s still a wrinkle in this story. He’s got a separate civil rights lawsuit running in Idaho. Most defendants in that case are dismissed, leaving a pair of FBI agents from Georgia and Ada County, Idaho.
So, here we are with that tale. You’ve got to admit, the health sector seems to attract all the wrong attention sometimes, doesn’t it? But it reminds us all, be we healthcare providers or patients, that data protection is a vital affair that no one should ever overlook.
by Parker Bytes
