MIT Computer Hacker Faces Charges

BrocktonPost
BOSTON--A federal indictment unsealed Tuesday has charged a Cambridge man with
computer intrusion, fraud, and data theft in computer hacking incidents that targeted the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and JSTOR, a not-for-profit archive of scientific journals and academic work.
Aaron Swartz, 24, was charged in an indictment with wire fraud, computer fraud,
unlawfully obtaining information from a protected computer, and recklessly damaging a
protected computer.
The indictment alleges Swartz illegally accessed and distributed more than 4 million scientific works from JSTOR.
If convicted on these charges, SWARTZ faces up to 35 years in prison, to
be followed by three years of supervised release, restitution, forfeiture and a fine of up to $1 million.
“Stealing is stealing whether you use a computer command or a crowbar, and whether you take documents, data or dollars. It is equally harmful to the victim whether you sell what you have stolen or give it away,” said U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz in a prepared statement.
The indictment alleges between September 24, 2010, and January 6, 2011, Swartz
contrived to break into a restricted computer wiring closet in a basement at MIT and to access
MIT’s network without authorization from a computer switch within that closet.
He is charged with doing this in order to download a major portion of JSTOR’s archive of digitized academic journal articles onto his computers and hard drives.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit organization that has invested heavily in providing an online system for archiving, accessing, and searching digitized copies of over 1,000 academic journals.
It is alleged that Swartz avoided MIT’s and JSTOR’s security efforts in order to distribute a significant proportion of JSTOR’s archive through one or more file-sharing sites.
The indictment alleges that Swartz’s repeated automatic downloads impaired JSTOR’s
computers, brought down some of its servers, and deprived various computers at MIT from accessing JSTOR’s research.
Even after JSTOR and MIT worked to block Swartz’s computers, Swartz allegedly returned with new methods for accessing JSTOR and downloading articles.
The indictment alleges that Swartz exploited MIT’s computer system to steal over four
million articles from JSTOR, even though Swartz was not affiliated with MIT as a student,faculty member, or employee.
In fact, during these events, Swartz was allegedly a fellow at a Boston-area university, through which he could have accessed JSTOR’s services and archive for legitimate research.
At this time, the government is unaware of any personal identifying information having been stolen from JSTOR as a result of SWARTZ’s alleged actions.

Canadian Doctor Pleads Quilty In Illegal HGH Sports Injury Treatments

BrocktonPost
BUFFALO, N.Y.--A Canadian doctor has pleaded guilty to a felony charge of treating American baseball, football, golf and other professional athletes with illegal human growth steroids in violation of several U.S. laws and will face up to three years in jail.
According to a release from U.S. Immigration and Customs, or ICE, Dr. Anthony Galea, 51, of Toronto, Canada, entered his guilty plea Wednesday, July 6 before U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara in Buffalo, N.Y., and faces a maximum sentence of three years in prison, a fine of $250,000 and forfeiture of $275,000.
In the original affidavit from May, 18, 2010, Galea faced a maximum of 20 years for smuggling charges.
The drugs included human growth hormone, or HGH, and Actovegin, a derivative of calf's blood.
Media reports have said Galea was a former doctor to golfer Tiger Woods and New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez.
The charge stems from an investigation led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations.
Galea admitted traveling to the U.S. numerous times from 2007 through September 2009in order to provide medical treatments to professional athletes, including players in the National Football League and Major League Baseball.
The affidavit supporting the complaint alleges that Galea, who is not a U.S. citizen and who is not authorized to work in the United States, repeatedly entered the United States from 2007 to September 2009 in order to treat numerous professional athletes in the country. The athletes were said to be from Major League Baseball, the National Football League, and the Professional Golfers' Association.
It was alleged that Galea's billings to three athletes from the NFL alone amounted to approximately $200,000.
Galea, who is not licensed to practice medicine in the U.S., admitted traveling to 13locations, including New York City, Miami, Washington, D.C., and Boston to administer four different kinds of treatments.
One type of treatment involved injecting athletes with a mixture containing HGH, while a second type of treatment involved injections of Actovegin.
Federal law requires that drugs intended for human consumption, such as prescription medicines, must be approved by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Food and Drug Administration.
Human growth hormone is not approved by the FDA as a treatment for sports injuries and is banned by most professional sports leagues, including the NFL and MLB.
Actovegin is not approved for any use in humans.
Also participating in this ICE HSI investigation were the FBI; FDA, Office of Criminal Investigations; and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
On June 24, 2010, Mary Anne Catalano, an employee of the defendant in Canada, pleaded guilty before Judge Arcara to making false statements at the border. Catalano is awaiting sentencing in this case.
Judge Arcara scheduled sentencing for October 19, 2011 at 12:30 pm. Galea was released pending sentencing.