Idaho Man Sentenced to 10 Years for Hacking, Data Theft, and Extortion

Robert Purbeck, a 45-year-old from Idaho, faces a decade behind bars after hacking into U.S. organizations and stealing the personal information of over 132,000 people. Through unlawful access to servers and leveraging stolen information, he executed attacks across various sectors, causing widespread damage and attempting extortion.

Here’s a breakdown of the case and the tactics involved:

In 2017, Purbeck targeted a Georgia medical clinic, accessing servers through credentials bought on the dark web. He stole the personal information of 43,000 individuals, including sensitive details like Social Security numbers. Later, in 2018, he exploited a server breach in a police department, exposing over 14,000 individuals’ data, including police records.

Purbeck’s tactics escalated to extortion, where he threatened a Florida orthodontist, demanding Bitcoin in exchange for stolen patient records. His threats included publishing sensitive data of the orthodontist’s patients, creating a terrifying scenario of blackmail and personal data exposure.

The FBI’s investigation led to Purbeck’s arrest in 2019, seizing computers containing extensive data. Purbeck was convicted on charges of computer fraud and abuse in March 2024, receiving a 10-year sentence and a $1 million restitution order to compensate victims.

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