Robert Purbeck, 45, of Idaho, has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for hacking computer servers across the United States, including a Georgia medical clinic and police department, and collecting personal information from more than 132,000 people.
Purbeck hacked into a Griffin medical clinic in 2017, collecting confidential information from about 43,000 patients. The next year, he gained access to the City of Newnan’s Police Department system, which contained police reports and personal information for over 14,000 people. Purbeck carried out the attacks using stolen credentials obtained from a darknet marketplace.
He also attempted to blackmail a Florida orthodontist in 2018 by demanding Bitcoin in exchange for stolen patient records and threatening to sell the orthodontist’s child’s personal information.
The FBI confiscated Purbeck’s devices during a 2019 search, revealing data breaches that affected over 132,000 people. He pleaded guilty earlier this year and was forced to pay more than $1 million in restitution in addition to his prison term.
The FBI Atlanta Field Office oversaw the investigation, with U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan emphasizing the necessity of safeguarding personal information from cybercriminals.