Anonymous Associate And Friends Charged in Computer Hacking Scheme

(Newsroom America) -- Three residents of Pittsburgh including one who identified himself as an associate of the computer hacking collective "Anonymous" have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on cyber crime charges.

United States Attorney David J. Hickton said the five-count superseding indictment, returned on June 6 and unsealed today, named Matthew James West, 20, Jonathan Cunningham, 28, and his wife, Alyson Cunningham, 24, all of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as the defendants.

According to the superseding indictment, West was an associate of Alyson and Jonathan Cunningham who had an interest in computer hacking and identified himself as an associate of the computer hacking collective “Anonymous.”

On or about November 28, 2011, Alyson Cunningham was terminated from her employment with a law firm “VG.” That same day West, assisted by Jonathan and Alyson Cunningham, allegedly hacked into the computer server at VG and installed software that could be used to capture passwords of anyone on the firm’s network.

On or about November 29, 2011, West allegedly provided personal financial information of Alyson’s former workers at VG to Jonathan Cunningham in violation of federal law.

The defendants were arrested yesterday morning and made an initial appearance in federal court before Magistrate Judge Maureen Kelly.

Arraignments are scheduled for June 29 at 10 a.m. before Magistrate Judge Cynthia Eddy. The defendants were released on $10,000 unsecured bond.

The law provides for a maximum total sentence of 26 years in prison, a fine of $1.1 million, or both depending on the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendants.