Ohio man charged in Internet threats aimed at Pitt

On Wednesday, the Department of Justice criminally charged a Loveland, Ohio, man suspected… On Wednesday, the Department of Justice criminally charged a Loveland, Ohio, man suspected of producing the Anonymous YouTubethreat against Pitt.

United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced that Alexander Waterland, 24, “has been charged with making Internet threats and violating the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act for posting on YouTube a video and a comment, which threatened the University of Pittsburgh.”

The YouTube video, posted by the account AnonOperative13 on April 26 and titled “Anonymous Message to The University Of Pittsburgh,” claimed that a collective named Anonymous had stolen more than 200 gigabytes of data from Pitt, including student and faculty usernames and passwords, payment information and coursework. The video still remains on YouTube.

Anonymous, a global security and privacy activist group, often claims responsibility for cyber attacks on credit card companies and has also been known to target businesses and universities that it feels does not protect data.

The video asked for an apology from the University for its “lack of care for [its] students and their valuable; yet vulnerable information.”

Furthermore, a comment posted by AnonOperative13 on the video said that Pitt had until May 6, 2012, to post an apology that needed to stay up for no less than 15 days.

The news release from the Department of Justice said, “These charges pertain to specific cyberthreats in April and May of this year that targeted the University of Pittsburgh and caused disruption in campus operations.”

Pitt spokesman Robert Hill said in an email that the University examined its system in April and found no evidence of a security breach.

“We continue to believe that no non-public information had been obtained by the author of these threats,” Hill said.

Additionally, the release said, “These threats were part of the series of threats received by the University since February. The investigation is comprehensive and ongoing.”

Hickton clarified later on Wednesday in a statement that the threats Waterland is charged with making are not related to the string of bomb threats directed at Pitt at the conclusion of last semester.

Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Pittsburgh and Cincinnati Field Offices arrested Waterland this morning. He was scheduled to make an initial appearance before federal court at 1:30 p.m. today in federal court at the Southern District of Ohio.

If found guilty of the aforementioned charges, Waterland could face a maximum penalty of seven years in prison, a fine of $500,000, or both.