22-year old Londoner Kerem Albayrak was sentenced today after attempting to blackmail Apple by threatening to factory reset 319 million iCloud accounts and selling the users' data.
Albrayk pleaded guilty to one count of blackmail and "two counts of unauthorized acts with intent to impair the operation of or prevent/hinder access to a computer" on December 2.
Today, at Southwark Crown Court, he got a second chance as he was sentenced to a two year suspended jail term, a six-month electronic curfew, and 300 hours of unpaid community work.
When asked about some of his activities, Albayrak told NCA investigators “once you get sucked into it [cyber crime], it just escalates and it makes it interesting when it’s illegal.” The fame-hungry cyber-criminal went on to say “when you have power on the internet it’s like fame and everyone respects you, and everyone is chasing that right now.” - National Crime Agency (NCA)
Blackmailing Apple
Albayrak demanded a ransom of a thousand $100 iTunes gift cards or $75,000 in crypto-currency from Apple via email on March 12, 2017.
"A week later Albayrak filmed himself accessing two apparently random iCloud accounts," the NCA said in a press release published today.
"He posted the video on YouTube and sent the link to Apple security, as well as multiple media outlets. Two days later the demand increased to $100,000 and a threat to factory reset every iCloud account in his possession."
After Apple reached out to UK and US law enforcement agencies, NCA’s National Cyber Crime Unit found and arrested the man at his Hornsey, North London home.
"Hello Apple I've decided to use all my servers and macroscripts on these accounts," he told Apple in one of his emails according to a DailyMail report. 'If I don't get my payment by 3 December I will be hacking every iCloud account I have extracting all the notes and dumping them online.'
Hacker who tried to blackmail Apple by threatening to delete 319 million accounts has been sentenced following an NCA investigation.
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The investigators also seized electronic equipment including computers, a phone, and a hard drive, which allowed them to discover that Albayrak was claiming to be the spokesperson of a group of hackers named "Turkish Crime Family."
NCA's investigation also showed that the young Londoner wasn't in possession of the data he claimed to have but, instead, he was flaunting credentials leaked by other online services that were mostly inactive.
"Albayrak wrongly believed he could escape justice after hacking into two accounts and attempting to blackmail a large multi-national corporation," NCA Senior Investigative Officer Anna Smith said.
"During the investigation, it became clear that he was seeking fame and fortune. But cyber-crime doesn’t pay," she added.