Man sentenced for computer misuse offences after a large-scale international investigation

A Surrey man has been sentenced for computer misuse offences, following a large-scale international investigation into data breach website ‘weleakinfo’. 

Back in January 2020 an investigation was launched by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) where they seized the website called ‘weleakinfo’. The website contained illegally obtained personal credentials (passwords and usernames) that could then be purchased by customers.

Nathan Mannion, born on 21/9/1993, of New Malden, was identified as a customer who purchased stolen data during the period from November 2017 and August 2019. This information was then passed over to the Surrey and Sussex Cyber Crime Unit who obtained a section 8 warrant and in December of 2020 the warrant of Nathan’s home address was executed.

A computer and hard drives were seized from the address and a thorough review of the devices was conducted. Officers uncovered a number of folders of data and photos that were illegally downloaded from victim’s iCloud accounts which he had accessed by buying the usernames and passwords for the accounts.

Mannion was sentenced at Guildford Magistrates Court on 13 June after pleading guilty to the Computer Misuse Act and was sentenced to a 12-month community order, 12 days of rehabilitation activity, 120 hours of unpaid work, ordered to pay £85 in costs and £95 in victim surcharge.

A great tool to show you if you have been the victim of a data breach is the website ‘haveibeenpwned’ where you can see if your email or phone number have been leaked.

To reduce your risk of being a victim of a data breach we recommend you use three random words as your passwords and change them regularly. Multi Factor Authentication is another great way to keep your accounts as secure as possible.