Brazil arrests USDoD hacker tied to FBI, National Public Data breaches

Brazilian police have arrested the hacker known as USDoD, responsible for high-profile breaches including the FBI’s InfraGard and National Public Data breach which leaked personal details of billions.

The Department of Federal Police (DPF) has arrested a 33-year-old hacker from Belo Horizonte (MG), believed to be responsible for some of the most significant global cyberattacks on critical infrastructure.

While the police have not officially released the suspect’s name, it has confirmed that the individual was involved in the FBI’s InfraGard breach, a major security incident that leaked the personal details of 87,000 members on Breach Forums and Russian language cyber crime forum XSS.

The hacker behind the InfraGard breach was USDoD, also using the alias EquationCorp. This same hacker was also responsible for the massive National Public Data (NPD) data breach, which exposed the personal information, including Social Security Numbers (SSNs), of 3.9 billion people.

The DPF press release states that the hacker was arrested on Wednesday, October 16, 2024, as part of Operation Data Breach, an ongoing cybercrime crackdown. Authorities have seized several of his devices for further investigation.

It is worth noting that USDoD had managed to maintain his anonymity until July 2024, when he publicly announced the scraping and leaking of a 100,000-line Indicator of Compromise (IoC) list from the cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike.

USDoD hacker on Breach Forums (Screenshot credit: Hackread.com)

Following this, CrowdStrike began tracking his activities and, within a month, successfully uncovered his real identity. The company then shared the information with Brazilian authorities, leading to his arrest.

Hackread.com was the first and only publication to interview USDoD amid the allegations, during which he revealed his identity in a video message and confirmed that CrowdStrike’s claims about him were accurate.

****The United States and Brazil Extradition Treaty****

Although it is too early to speculate, given the hacker’s involvement in high-profile cyberattacks, the United States may seek his extradition under the Brazil-U.S. Extradition Treaty.

However, Brazil has a well-documented history of not extraditing its own citizens, which could complicate efforts to prosecute him in the U.S. If extradition is denied, the hacker may still face prosecution in Brazil under local cybercrime laws.

This is a developing story. Stay tuned!

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