Russian suspected of hacking Bay Area tech companies indicted

OAKLAND, Calif. -- A federal grand jury in Oakland on Thursday indicted a Russian man on several computer crimes, United States Attorney Brian Stretch announced Friday.

Yevgeniy Aleksandrovich Nikulin, 29, was indicted on charges including obtaining information from computers, causing damage to computers, trafficking in access devices, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy, prosecutors said.

The indictment alleges Nikulin, from Moscow, Russia, accessed computers belonging to bay area-based companies LinkedIn, Dropbox and Formspring without authorization, and obtained information from the computers, and caused damage to a computer, prosecutors said.

He is also accused of having engaged in a conspiracy to traffic stolen user credentials, prosecutors said.

Authorities arrested Nikulin on Oct. 5 in the Czech Republic and he remains in custody in Prague, according to prosecutors.

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