FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CRM

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, (202) 514-2007

2006 TDD (202) 514-1888
WWW.USDOJ.GOV

FORMER OFFICER OF INTERNET

COMPANY SENTENCED IN CASE
OF MASSIVE DATA THEFT FROM
ACXIOM CORPORATION
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Scott Levine, 46, was sentenced today to 96 months in
federal prison after being found guilty on Aug. 12, 2005, by a jury in Little Rock,
Ark., of 120 counts of unauthorized access of a protected computer, two counts of
access device fraud, and one count of obstruction of justice, the Justice Department
announced.

The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Judge William R. Wilson in the
Eastern District of Arkansas.

“This sentence reflects the seriousness of these crimes,” said U.S. Attorney Bud
Cummins of the Eastern District of Arkansas. “At first blush, downloading
computer files in the privacy of your office may not seem so terribly serious. But, if
you are stealing propriety information worth tens of millions of dollars from a well-
established and reputable company, you can expect to be punished accordingly.”

“Neither the Internet nor cyberspace will ever be a safe haven for individuals who
attempt this type of cyber crime. The Secret Service, along with our law
enforcement partners, will hunt you down, keystroke by keystroke, until you face a
jury of your peers,” said Brian Marr, Special Agent in Charge of the Little Rock
office of the U.S. Secret Service. “The Secret Service’s investigation regarding this
type of crime has been and will always be a top priority.”

“The investigation of cyber crime, particularly as it relates to computer intrusion, is

one of the FBI’s top priorities,” said William C. Temple, Special Agent in Charge
of the Little Rock office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. “Working with our
counterparts from the U.S. Secret Service, we were able to quickly recover the
stolen data and prevent it use in a wide range of fraud schemes. The success of this
investigation should send a strong message to those who might consider becoming
involved in similar criminal activity.”
Levine, of Boca Raton, Fla., was the controlling owner of Snipermail, Inc., a
Florida corporation engaged in the business of distributing advertisements over the
Internet to e-mail addresses. While working with others at Snipermail, Inc., he stole
more than one billion records containing personal information – including names,
physical and e-mail addresses, as well as phone numbers – belonging to Acxiom
Corporation clients, from approximately January 2003 through July 2003. Acxiom is
a large repository for personal, financial and company data, including customer
information for other companies.

Levine used sophisticated decryption software to illegally obtain passwords and

exceed his authorized access to Acxiom databases, which contained information
belonging to Acxiom’s clients. Former Snipermail employees, who agreed to
cooperate with the federal investigation, testified to how Levine and others
concealed physical evidence relating to the intrusions and thefts of data.

There is no evidence to date that any of the data stolen by Levine or others
associated with this investigation has been used in identity theft or credit card fraud
schemes. However, some of the data was resold to a broker for use in an ad
campaign.

The criminal investigation was jointly conducted by the FBI and the Secret Service,
with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys George C. Vena, Todd L.
Newton, and Karen L. Coleman from the Eastern District of Arkansas and Trial
Attorney Amanda M. Hubbard of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and
Intellectual Property Section.

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