An Ohio man was arrested Wednesday on federal charges that he posted an anonymous YouTube video and a follow-up comment claiming to have stolen computer records from the University of Pittsburgh and threatening to release them unless the school's chancellor made a public apology.
Alexander Waterland, 24, a Loveland, Ohio, man who worked as a computer specialist for an online prescription drug service, was released on bond by a federal magistrate in Cincinnati, with the understanding that he will appear before a magistrate in western Pennsylvania next week, according to U.S. Attorney David Hickton's office in Pittsburgh, which is prosecuting the case.
Hickton said he could not answer questions because the investigation was continuing into Waterland's alleged activities, as well as bomb threats -- some emailed and others written in bathroom stalls of campus buildings -- that disrupted classes and dorm life for weeks this year.
Waterland is not charged with making the bomb threats. He faces one count each of interstate threats and extortion and Internet extortion involving a protected computer. The Pitt computers are considered "protected'' under federal law because they contain the personal information of students, faculty and staff.
Pitt officials did not immediately return requests for comment on Waterland's arrest, but have previously said the computer records now being linked to the charges against Waterland were never actually hacked.
Waterland was represented by assistant federal public defender Karen Savir during his brief court appearance in Cincinnati. She didn't immediately return a call or an email, and Waterland didn't answer a message left on his cellphone.
An eight-page FBI affidavit unsealed Wednesday said Waterland posted a YouTube video using the computer name AnonOperative13, claiming the computer hacking group known as Anonymous had stolen records of students, faculty and alumni from university computers.
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The April 26 video demanded that school officials apologize for not "protecting'' students just five days after the last of a string of dozens of bomb threats. A group calling itself The Threateners emailed the school's student paper, The Pitt News, promising to stop the bomb threats in return for the university's withdrawing a $50,000 reward, and the university complied -- although school officials didn't explain why the reward was withdrawn at that time.
Waterland's threat to release the allegedly hacked files also was followed by a comment, on May 2 from AnonOperative13, that said, "We also would like to state that we are NOT going to release the information unless Pitt admins ... follow our very simple request!'' The threat gave a May 15 deadline for Chancellor Mark Nordenberg to issue a public apology.
On May 14, an email from AnonOperative repeated the threat to release the records unless the apology was made within seven days and ended, "We are your worst nightmare! The internet is here! You will now Expect US!''
The FBI affidavit said investigators were able to trace the video and other two "Anonymous'' messages to various IP addresses, including three linked to Waterland: an apartment complex where he lives; a wireless device owned by Express Scripts, the Mason, Ohio, company where he worked; and his sister's home in Indian Head, Md.
A spokesman for Express Scripts, a St. Louis-based prescription management service, said Waterland is no longer with the company.
A message left on the home telephone answering machine of Waterland's sister was not immediately returned. She is not accused of any wrongdoing.
In court, prosecutors agreed not to ask the federal magistrate to jail Waterland until he can return to Pittsburgh, tentatively on June 27, which indicates they do not consider him a danger to the community or a flight risk.
The charges against Waterland carry a maximum federal prison term of seven years and up to $500,000 in fines.
