Skip to main content

Canadian man charged in 2014 Yahoo breach expected to plead guilty in the U.S.

Karim Baratov, a Canadian citizen who the U.S. accused of helping Russian intelligence operatives hack Yahoo accounts in 2014, is expected to plead guilty next week, Reuters reports.

Baratov recently waived his right to fight the request for extradition from Canada and will appear in federal court in San Franciso this coming Tuesday.

Recommended Videos

The 22-year old Baratov is a Canadian citizen who was born in Kazakhstan. Last March, Canadian law enforcement arrested him at the request of U.S. prosecutors, alleging that he helped with the 2014 Yahoo breach.

In March, the Department of Justice filed charges against Baratov and three other men for their part in the 2014 theft. Two of the men were part of Russia’s Federal Security Service. The information obtained from the reports implies that the Russian agents were the ringleaders of the operation. Alexsey Belan, one of the FBI’s most wanted cybercriminals, was the one who carried out the actual hack of Yahoo’s server.

Baratov was apparently brought on when it was discovered that victims of the hack had non-Yahoo email addresses. Baratov is alleged to have hacked at least 80 non-Yahoo email accounts, with 50 of those hacked accounts reported to be Gmail accounts.

As of right now, the exact targets of the hack have not been revealed, but we do know the FSB agents sought information on Russian officials, a wealthy banker, and the leader of a metals company.

Despite the charges, Baratov is the only culprit to have been arrested in relation to this case. In August, he pleaded not guilty to several charges including “conspiring to commit computer fraud, conspiring to commit access device fraud, conspiring to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.”

It is unclear what charges Baratov will be pleading guilty to on Tuesday, though court records indicate that the hearing will be a “change of plea” hearing overseen by U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria.

It is currently unknown why Baratov is changing his plea. It is possible that he worked out a deal with prosecutors, which would make sense, given that he appears to be one of the least important actors in this hack.

Eric Brackett
Former Digital Trends Contributor
U.S. indicts Chinese hackers for stealing coronavirus vaccine research
A digital depiction of a laptop being hacked by a hacker.

 

Chinese hackers targeted U.S. biotech firms working on coronavirus vaccines and treatments, and other companies around the globe, according to U.S. prosecutors. 

Read more
Dell sale: Up to $400 off monitors, desktop PCs, laptops, and more
Alienware Aurora R16 sitting on a coffee table.

Dell is always an excellent source of monitor deals, desktop computer deals, and laptop deals, especially if you're able to take advantage of the savings from Dell sales -- just like the one that's happening right now. Feel free to take a look at everything that's available through the link below, but you can also check out our favorite offers that we've rounded up. Either way, we highly recommend hurrying with your purchase -- these limited-time deals will only last until May 25, but there's a chance that stocks for the more popular devices will sell out long before then.

Alienware Aurora R16 gaming PC -- $2,450 $2,850 14% off

Read more
I tested Gemini Advanced, ChatGPT, and Copilot Pro. Here’s which AI searched best
ChatGPT logo on a phone

With AI chatbots now built into search engines, browsers, and even your desktop, it's easy to assume they all do the same thing. But when it comes to getting useful search results, some outperform the rest.

I wanted to test Gemini Advanced, ChatGPT, and Copilot Pro head-to-head to see which one helps you get answers faster and more accurately. These are the paid versions, all promising live web access, smarter context, and fewer hallucinations.

Read more