British hacker ‘IntelBroker’ charged with $25M in cybercrime damages
A British national known online as “IntelBroker” has been charged by the U.S. for stealing and selling sensitive data from victims worldwide, causing an estimated $25 million in damages.
The indictment, revealed today by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, accuses Kai West, a 25-year-old British man, of using the handle “IntelBroker” in a years-long campaign to steal and sell data from government agencies and networks, companies, and critical infrastructure.
As seen by BleepingComputer, this data was most often put up for sale on the BreachForums hacking forum. The stolen information included sensitive health records, internal files from telecommunication and cybersecurity firms, and user data from online platforms.
IntelBroker has become one of the most notorious cybercriminals in recent years, linked to breaches at Europol, General Electric, Weee!, AMD, HPE, Nokia, and DC Health Link.
The four‑count indictment charges West with conspiracy to commit computer intrusions, wire fraud, conspiracy to conduct wire fraud, and accessing a protected computer to obtain information. Three of the charges carry a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison.
According to the DOJ, authorities have calculated that West caused approximately $25 million in damages to dozens of victims.
The DOJ’s announcement comes as French media reported today that West had been arrested in February 2025. The United States says they are now seeking to extradite West to face charges in New York.
The complaint details how the FBI confirmed the identity of IntelBroker, aka “Kyle Northern.”
In January 2023, an undercover agent allegedly purchased a stolen API key from IntelBroker. The Bitcoin address used in the sale was traced to an earlier wallet created on the Ramp online banking platform that was owned by an account registered to a UK driving license in West’s name.
The same email account used on the Ramp account was reportedly tied to a Coinbase account registered to the alias “Kyle Northern,” a known persona of West. The email account contained invoices, emails from his university, and a photo of West’s license, allowing the FBI to link Kai West to the IntelBroker persona.
“The IntelBroker alias has caused millions in damages to victims around the world,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton.
“This action reflects the FBI’s commitment to pursuing cybercriminals around the world. New Yorkers are all too often the victims of intentional cyber schemes and our office is committed to bringing these remote actors to justice.”
In related news, four other people were arrested in France this week, who are said to be the operators of the BreachForums hacking forums.
IntelBroker was also an admin of the forum for some time but recently stepped down in January.
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