The U.S. Department of Justice has charged a 25-year-old British national, Kai West, known online as “IntelBroker”, for stealing and selling sensitive data from government agencies, private companies, and critical infrastructure worldwide.
According to prosecutors, the cyberattacks caused an estimated $25 million in damages.
The indictment, unsealed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, outlines a years-long hacking campaign involving the sale of stolen data on the BreachForums cybercrime marketplace. The compromised information included health records, corporate files, and data from high-profile organizations such as Europol, General Electric, AMD, HPE, Nokia, and DC Health Link.
West faces four federal charges, including conspiracy to commit computer intrusions, wire fraud, and accessing protected systems to steal data, three of which carry a maximum sentence of 25 years each. U.S. authorities are now seeking West’s extradition from France, where he was arrested in February 2025.
According to the FBI, West’s identity was linked to the “IntelBroker” persona through digital traces, including a Bitcoin transaction, email records, and documents tied to a UK driver’s license and a Coinbase account under the alias “Kyle Northern.”
The DOJ emphasized that the charges reflect ongoing efforts to hold international cybercriminals accountable. Meanwhile, four other individuals connected to BreachForums were also arrested in France this week, intensifying the crackdown on global cybercrime networks.
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