Year: 2014
Court filings and enforcement actions initiated or unsealed during calendar year 2014.
Key Facts
- 4 major cases opened or unsealed in 2014.
- Cumulative losses identified for 2014 matters exceed $4.0 billion.
- Documented from federal indictments and official government disclosures.
Documented Matters for 2014
U.S. v. Sun Kailiang et al. (PLA Unit 61398 / APT1)
Historic first-ever criminal indictment against state military actors: five Chinese military officers in People's Liberation Army Unit 61398 charged with cyber espionage against Westinghouse, U.S. Steel, Alcoa, and the United Steelworkers union.
U.S. v. Ross Ulbricht (Dread Pirate Roberts / Silk Road)
Historic trial and life sentencing of Ross William Ulbricht, creator and operator of Silk Road, the internet's first comprehensive darknet market using Tor and Bitcoin.
Target Corporation Point-of-Sale Data Breach (Fazio Mechanical Ingress)
Landmark retail cyberattack where attackers penetrated Target internal corporate networks using stolen billing portal credentials from a third-party refrigeration and HVAC vendor, subsequently deploying BlackPOS memory scraping malware to steal 40 million credit card numbers and 70 million customer records.
U.S. v. Ross Ulbricht (Silk Road Darknet Marketplace)
Landmark prosecution of Ross Ulbricht, creator and operator of the Silk Road dark web marketplace, which processed hundreds of millions in anonymous Bitcoin transactions for illicit narcotics, computer hacking tools, and money laundering services. Federal agents seized over $3.3 billion in Bitcoin.