A former senior developer at Ubiquiti, an American technology company, has been sentenced to six years in prison for attempting to extort nearly $2 million worth of cryptocurrency from the company. Nickolas Sharp confessed to pretending to be an anonymous hacker and whistleblower, illegally accessing confidential data and trying to extort 50 Bitcoin from Ubiquiti.
The US Attorney’s Office revealed that Sharp not only breached the company’s network but also orchestrated the publication of misleading news articles about the incident, causing a loss of over $4 billion in Ubiquiti’s market capitalization. US Attorney Damian Williams condemned Sharp’s actions, stating that Sharp abused the trust placed in him as a senior developer to commit these callous crimes.
FBI agents executed a search warrant at Sharp’s residence in Portland, Oregon, seizing electronic devices, including a laptop used to steal Ubiquiti’s data. Sharp provided false statements to the agents during the search. In February 2023, Sharp pleaded guilty to transmitting a program to a protected computer, wire fraud, and making false statements to the FBI.
In addition to his prison sentence, Sharp was ordered to pay $1,590,487 in restitution and forfeit any personal property used in connection with the crimes. He will also be under three years of supervised release. This sentencing follows a recent case where a US man was charged with fraudulently obtaining $110 million worth of cryptocurrency from Mango Markets and its customers.
This incident serves as a reminder of the importance of cybersecurity and the consequences of engaging in illegal activities such as extortion and fraud. It also highlights the role of law enforcement agencies like the FBI in investigating and prosecuting cybercrimes to protect individuals and businesses from harm.