Federal prosecutors in North Texas have accused a man of trying to extort several online companies by threatening them with cyberattacks.
U.S. Attorney John Parker says 32-year-old Kamyar Jahanrakhshan was arrested Friday and charged with extortion by threats to cause damage to the Dallas-based hosting company for Leagle.com, which provides copies of court decisions.
According to an affidavit, Jahanrakhshan, from Seattle, threatened Leagle.com with a cyberattack if the firm didn't remove a court opinion from its website detailing a case he was involved with. Leagle.com reported its website was attacked January 2015 and the attack didn't stop until it removed the opinion from its site.
Authorities say similar attacks were done by Jahanrakhshan on media companies in Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
Court records didn't list an attorney for Jahanrakhshan.
