Amidst the rising cases of cyberattacks, yet another one has been reported in Puerto Rico. A student from the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) pled guilty to cyberstalking on July 13th. The student named Iván Santell-Velásquez admitted to targeting more than 100 students on campus.
The hacker went by the name "Slay3r_r00t" and illegally accessed over a dozen emails and Snapchat accounts of female students. Upon pleading guilty to the cyberattacks, Santell-Velásquez was sentenced to 13 months in prison, according to BleepingComputer.
The Actions that Led to Prison
Aside from hacking multiple Snapchat accounts, which went on for three years between 2019 to 2021, Santell-Velásquez also accessed several university email accounts wherein he collected personal information using phishing attacks and spoofing schemes. In other words, he sent unauthorized emails to students in his university, including administration and faculty.
Along with his other offenses is the fact that he stole nude photos from the Snapchat accounts he had hacked, which he then shared with third parties. This led to the photo being leaked online. Moreover, he also uploaded some llegally obtained nude photos on platforms like Twitter and Facebook on purpose.
Santell-Velásquez also harassed one of his victims through text using the nude photos he had acquired from their accounts.
Response from Authorities
According to Stephen Muldrow, the US Attorney of the District of Puerto Rico, of 18 U.S.C. § 2261A(2), and has pleaded guilty before District Court Judge Silvia Carrenño-Col. Muldrow added that the case demonstrates the importance of keeping your password and personal information safe, especially in response to suspicious emails and/or text messages.
Joseph Gonzáles, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI San Juan Field Office, said that what Santell-Velásquez did was not only wrong, but it was also a federal crime, and the FBI will not tolerate it.
The investigation was conducted by FBI Special Agent Christian Nieves of the San Juan Cyber Division. As mentioned in justice.gov, Cyberstalking has a maximum prison sentence of five years. Although, in the event of the hearing of Iván Santell-Velásquez on October 12, he got a mere 13 months.
In the Event of a Cyberattack
Once you realize that you have been victimized by a hacker, do the following steps to limit or restrict access from the hacker.
Check the balance or unrecognized charges on your debit or credit card and report them immediately if irregularities are found.
Change all your account passwords as soon as you can so hackers will not be able to access them.
Notify work, school, or other systems about what happened so that they can take steps to restrict your accounts and minimize damages.
Run a security scan on your devices to detect if it has been infected with malware.
Disconnect your device from the internet or cellular data to cut it off. If you can, turn it off as well.
Contact your banks and financial services company and close any of the accounts that may be accessed by the hacker.
Report the incident by calling 787-987-6500 or visiting the Federal Bureau of Investigation website.
Related Article : 6 Must-Take Steps to Protect Yourself from a Data Breach
