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Attorney General Conway Announces Cybercrime Arrest on Kentucky College Campus

A twenty-three-year-old student allegedly hacked into his fellow students' e-mail accounts and tried to blackmail them with personal information he obtained.

Attorney General Jack Conway recently announced that the Williamsburg Police Department, in a joint investigation with his Cybercrimes Unit, arrested 23-year-old Sungkook Kim, a student at the University of the Cumberlands, for allegedly hacking into his fellow students' e-mail accounts and trying to blackmail them with personal information that he obtained. Kim is charged with identity theft, Unlawful Access to a Computer 1st and Unlawful Access to a Computer 2nd.

"I appreciate the university's cooperation in this investigation," Conway said. "Our investigators are currently examining the digital forensics in our lab and will soon be able to determine how sophisticated this operation was and if additional charges could be filed."

The Attorney General's Cybercrimes Unit became involved in the investigation after the Williamsburg Police Department requested its assistance. A female student at the University of the Cumberlands contacted police after she received an anonymous message about personal information that had been stolen from her e-mail account. The anonymous e-mail threatened to expose that information unless she complied with some specific demands.

Investigators were able to determine that Kim allegedly pirated another person's wireless router to send the threatening e-mails and that he had installed spyware on college library computers to capture logon IDs and passwords for students and faculty. Investigators believe that is how Kim gained access to the female student's e-mail address and ultimately, her personal information.

Kim is being held on a $100,000 bond. The university is cooperating with the investigation and additional charges could be forthcoming.