Gerard M. McTear III, Denial of Service Attack, California 2017

A Florida man was arrested this morning for forcing a San Diego software company’s website offline with a denial of service attack, seeking cryptocurrency in return.

Gerard “Jerry” M. McTear III, 29, was taken into custody in Ft. Myers, Florida this morning. McTear was charged with threatening to damage and intentionally damaging computers, which hosted the San Diego software company’s website.

According to the indictment, on June 6, 2016, McTear used the internet to shut down the software company’s website, seeking to extort cryptocurrency from the company in return for allowing the website to resume functioning. The company refused to pay the proffered bribe, and lost over $5,000 in business as they worked to get their website back online.

The defendant was arraigned today in the United States District Court for the Fort Myers Division, Middle District of Florida. The United States will seek his removal to the Southern District of California to face charges here.

“This kind of sabotage can be devastating for companies,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Alana W. Robinson. “We are prepared to go after every type of criminal, even if we have to chase him or her through cyberspace to safeguard businesses.”

The FBI has the expertise and resources to investigate denial of service and other evolving cyber crimes, said Eric S. Birnbaum, Special Agent in charge of the FBI’s San Diego Field Office. “This case is an example of the trend we continue to see involving traditional crimes migrating to cyberspace. The FBI will continue to educate and work with the business community to combat this growing crime trend.”

McTear faces up to 10 years and $250,000 in fines if convicted of the charges, which include fraud in connection with computers, threatening to damage a computer, and threatening to injure property through interstate communications.

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