**Massachusetts College Student Accused of Cyber Extortion Pleads Guilty**

In a shocking turn of events, Matthew Lane, a 19-year-old college student from Massachusetts, has pleaded guilty to charges of cyber extortion. According to federal authorities, Lane was involved in a sophisticated scheme that targeted two U.S.-based companies, hacking into their computer networks and stealing millions of records containing confidential and personally identifiable information.

Lane allegedly conspired with others to extort large sums of money from the companies, threatening to publicly disseminate sensitive data unless they paid ransoms. The victims were left with no choice but to comply, fearing that their customers' data would be leaked online, causing irreparable harm to their reputations and businesses.

"Cyber extortion is a serious attack on our economy and on all of us," said Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Leah Foley. "As alleged, this defendant stole private information about millions of children and teachers, imposed substantial financial costs on his victims, and instilled fear in parents that their kids' information had been leaked into the hands of criminals."

The scheme involved Lane hacking into the computer network of a telecommunications company and threatening to leak customer data unless they paid a $200,000 ransom. When the company questioned whether paying the ransom would actually end the threat, Lane responded with a chilling message: "We are the only ones with a copy of this data now. Stop this nonsense [or] your executives and employees will see the same fate... Make the correct decision and pay the ransom. If you keep stalling, it will be leaked."

Lane is also accused of using stolen login credentials to access the computer network of a second victim company, a software and cloud storage provider that served school systems in the U.S., Canada, and elsewhere. He allegedly transferred personally identifying information (PII) of students and teachers stored on the company's networks to a computer server leased in Ukraine.

The data theft resulted in sensitive information being compromised, including names, email addresses, phone numbers, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, medical information, residential addresses, parent and guardian information, and passwords. The total number of affected individuals is estimated to be over 60 million students and 10 million teachers worldwide.

"This alleged scheme has resulted in serious consequences and highlights the FBI's ongoing commitment to bringing cyber criminals to justice, no matter what their motivation is for willfully breaking the law," said Kimberly Milka, acting special agent in charge of the FBI Boston division. "Matthew Lane apparently thought he found a way to get rich quick, but this 19-year-old now stands accused of hiding behind his keyboard to gain unauthorized access to an education software provider to obtain sensitive data which was used in an attempt to extort millions of dollars."

Lane has agreed to plead guilty to one count each of cyber extortion conspiracy; cyber extortion; unauthorized access to protected computers; and aggravated identity theft. A plea hearing has not yet been scheduled by the court.

For those concerned about whether their child's or teacher's information was compromised, it is recommended that they contact their local school district for more information.