NATIONAL NEWS

Massachusetts 19-year-old pleading guilty to stealing, extorting teacher and student private data

May 21, 2025, 9:37 AM | Updated: 1:26 pm

BOSTON, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts college student will plead guilty to stealing millions of students’ and teachers’ private data from two U.S. education tech companies and extorting it for ransom, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

Assumption University student Matthew Lane, 19, is accused of using stolen login credentials to access the computer network of a software and cloud storage company serving school systems in the U.S. and abroad, according to U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts Leah B. Foley.

PowerSchool was not named in the court filings, but a source familiar with the case confirmed the company’s involvement.

According to court records, Lane is then alleged to have threatened the release of 60 million students’ and 10 million teachers’ names, phone numbers, Social Security numbers, residential addresses and medical histories if the company did not pay a ransom of approximately $2.85 million in Bitcoin.

Foley said Lane’s actions “instilled fear in parents that their kids’ information had been leaked into the hands of criminals – all to put a notch in his hacking belt.”

An attorney representing Lane didn’t return a phone call from The Associated Press requesting comment on Wednesday. Lane, of Sterling, Mass., faces counts of cyber extortion conspiracy, cyber extortion and unauthorized access to protected computers and aggravated identity theft. A plea hearing has not yet been scheduled.

Lane is also accused of extorting a $200,000 ransom payment from another telecommunications company last spring by threatening to release customer data.

“Matthew Lane apparently thought he found a way to get rich quick, but this 19-year-old now stands accused of hiding behind his keyboard to gain unauthorized access to an education software provider to obtain sensitive data which was used in an attempt to extort millions of dollars,” said Kimberly Milka, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division.

National News

Associated Press

Louisiana Republicans reject bill that would address split jury verdicts, a Jim Crow-era practice

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A Louisiana bill that would have carved out a path for incarcerated people convicted by now-banned split juries the opportunity to ask for a new trial was rejected by Republican state senators on Wednesday, likely killing the measure. An estimated 1,000 people behind bars in the Deep South state were […]

1 hour ago

FILE - Bryan Kohberger, accused of fatally stabbing four University of Idaho students, is escorted ...

Associated Press

Attorneys for Bryan Kohberger ask for trial delay, citing in part publicity around the case

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Attorneys for a man accused of killing four University of Idaho students have asked that his trial be delayed, citing in part a recent NBC “Dateline” special that they called prejudicial toward Bryan Kohberger and a need for additional time to prepare his defense. The filing dated Tuesday said moving forward […]

2 hours ago

Associated Press

New Orleans Archdiocese agrees to pay nearly $180M to victims of clergy sexual abuse

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Archdiocese of New Orleans has agreed to pay nearly $180 million to victims of clergy sexual abuse under a settlement announced Wednesday. The archdiocese, its parishes and several insurers will pay $179.2 million into a trust to benefit survivors, according to a statement by the committee that negotiated the agreement. […]

3 hours ago

FILE - The sun sets behind Holman Prison in Atmore, Ala., Jan., 27, 2022. (AP Photo/Jay Reeves, Fil...

Associated Press

Judge considers sanctions against attorneys in prison case for using AI in court filings

BIRMINGHAM, Ala, (AP) — A federal judge said Wednesday that she is considering sanctions against lawyers with a high-priced firm hired to defend Alabama’s prison system after ChatGPT was used to write two court filings that included nonexistent case citations. U.S. District Judge Anna Manasco held a hearing in Birmingham to question attorneys with the […]

3 hours ago

A person wearing graduate robes is detained by police across the street from the main gates of Colu...

Associated Press

AP PHOTOS: Columbia University president notes Mahmoud Khalil’s absence at graduation

The head of Columbia University alluded to the detention of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil during a commencement speech Wednesday that drew loud boos and chants of “free Palestine” from graduating students. The acting president, Claire Shipman, also alluded to the crackdown on foreign students by the Trump administration that has roiled the Ivy League school […]

3 hours ago

A pair of blood-stained gloves that Abraham Lincoln had when he was assassinated at Freeman's | Hin...

Associated Press

Lincoln’s blood-stained gloves from the night of his assassination among 144 artifacts on auction

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Treasured artifacts associated with President Abraham Lincoln were on the auction block Wednesday, separated from a collection that was intended to be available for public display forever but wound up in the middle of an interagency feud amid a lingering $8 million debt. The blood-stained leather gloves that were in Lincoln’s […]

4 hours ago

Massachusetts 19-year-old pleading guilty to stealing, extorting teacher and student private data