UofC student accused of hacking, blackmail

A University of the Cumberlands student has been ordered to surrender his passport if he makes bond for allegedly hacking into his fellow students’ email accounts and trying to blackmail them with personal information that he obtained, officials said.

Judge Fred White entered a not guilty plea for Kim Sungkook, 23, of Williamsburg, to charges of first and second-degree unlawful access to a computer and theft of identity of another without consent during his arraignment Monday morning in Whitley District Court.

White agreed to lower Sungkook’s bond from $100,000 cash to $50,000 cash during the arraignment hearing. According to court officials, Sungkook’s bond was later changed to a $10,000 surety bond on the condition that he is placed on home incarceration when released.

He was also ordered to surrender his passport to local authorities, who already have possession of it.
Williamsburg Police Chief Wayne Bird obtained a warrant and arrested Sungkook about 3 p.m. Friday.
The charges stem from a joint investigation by Williamsburg police and the Cybercrimes Unit of the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office.

The investigation began when a female student at the University of the Cumberlands contacted police after she received an anonymous message about personal information that had been stolen from her email account. The anonymous email threatened to expose that information unless she complied with some specific demands, according to an Attorney General’s press release.

Investigators were able to determine that Kim allegedly pirated another person’s wireless router to send the threatening emails and that he had installed spy ware on college library computers to capture logon IDs and passwords for students and faculty, according to the release.

Investigators believe that is how Kim gained access to the female student’s email address and ultimately, her personal information, the release stated.

The Attorney General’s Cybercrimes Unit became involved in the investigation after the Williamsburg Police Department requested its assistance.

“I appreciate the university’s cooperation in this investigation,” Attorney General Jack Conway said. “Our investigators are currently examining the digital forensics in our lab and will soon be able to determine how sophisticated this operation was and if additional charges could be filed.”

Williamsburg Police Public Affairs Officer Shawn Jackson said more charges could be filed against Sungkook in the near future as the investigation continues, but that it is uncertain whether more people will be charged.

“Right now, we don’t know if he is the only one involved or if there are more people involved. Chief Bird is leading the investigation. The investigation is continuing and he is being assisted by the Attorney

General’s Office,” Jackson said. “There are more details to come and probably more charges to come also.”

At this point, Jackson said authorities couldn’t say how many people’s personal information that Sungkook may have accessed.

Jackson noted that part of the ongoing investigation involved notifying potential victims.

“Hopefully, by the end of the week there will be more details available for the media along with other charges,” Jackson said.

The investigation has apparently been underway for nearly two months.

“On or about Oct. 1, 2008 the defendant unlawfully accessed computer information from a computer located at the University of the Cumberlands,” Bird stated in the arrest warrant.

“The defendant then illegally gained access to personal information on the computer and disseminated this personal information via the web some information portraying sexually explicit acts.

“The defendant also gained access to numerous individuals e-mail accounts illegally using their user ID and passwords without their consent.”

Williamsburg Police Detective Bobby Freeman, Sgt. Jason Caddell, Jackson and members of the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office have assisted in the investigation.

Public defender Jim Wren II has been appointed to represent Sungkook.