An alleged member of The Dark Overlord hacking group has been extradited from the United Kingdom to St. Louis to face charges.
That is according to the Justice Department, which secured an indictment of Nathan Wyatt before a federal grand jury in 2017.
Wyatt was arraigned Dec. 18 in the Eastern District of Missouri. He pleaded not guilty and was detained pending further proceedings.
That six-count indictment comprised one count of conspiracy, two counts of aggravated identify theft, and three counts of threatening to damage a protected computer.
As a member of The Dark Overlord, Wyatt was implicated in remotely accessing computer networks of multiple U.S. companies without authorization, stealing sensitive records and info and threatening to release it unless they paid a bitcoin ransom.
Wyatt was accused of creating email and phone accounts used to make those extortionate threats.
“Today’s extradition shows that the hackers hiding behind The Dark Overlord moniker will be held accountable for their alleged extortion of American companies,” said Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of DOJ's Criminal Division, in a statement. “We are thankful for the close cooperation of our partners in the United Kingdom in ensuring that the defendant will face justice in U.S. court.”
