Vancouver man pleads guilty to role in massive online attack

A Vancouver man has pleaded guilty in connection with a large-scale online attack that affected hundreds of thousands of DVRs, internet routers, fiber-optic networking devices and surveillance camera systems.

Kenneth Currin Schuchman, 21, pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Anchorage, Alaska, to aiding and abetting computer intrusions.

From at least July 2017 through October 2018, Schuchman and two known co-conspirators, identified by online aliases, hijacked connected, internet-enabled devices, including 650,000 DVRs. These networks of compromised devices, known as “botnets,” were used to overwhelm larger computer networks, rendering them inaccessible during the attack and ultimately hijacking them, according to the plea agreement.

“Criminals often target so-called Internet of Things devices such as home DVRs, internet routers and smart camera systems. These devices can be subject to wide-scale credential vulnerabilities that can permit criminal actors to exploit substantial numbers of these devices simultaneously and develop botnets at scale,” the plea agreement reads.

Schuchman specialized in researching and identifying vulnerable devices for attack, according to the plea agreement.

He and his co-conspirators called their botnets “Satori,” “Masuta” and “Okiru,” and sold them to other hackers, who paid in cryptocurrency and other online payment methods.

The plea agreement says Schuchman continued creating botnets after he was charged in August 2018, and orchestrated a “swatting” attack in October against one of his co-conspirators that resulted in a “substantial law enforcement response.”

Schuchman faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines. The U.S. Attorney’s Office is recommending a sentence at the low end of the range. He will be sentenced Nov. 21.