capital one building

Alleged Capital One Hacker Stole From More Than 30 Other Organizations, Prosecutors Say

In a search of Paige Thompson’s home, federal agents found servers holding stolen data from other companies and an “arsenal of weapons” belonging to her roommate.

  • By Haley Samsel
  • Aug 16, 2019

Paige A. Thompson, who is accused of stealing the personal information of more than 100 million Capital One credit card customers and applicants, also possessed stolen data from more than 30 other companies and institutions, federal prosecutors wrote in a Tuesday memo.

In the software engineer and former Amazon employee’s Seattle bedroom, federal agents found servers that contained “multiple terabytes” of stolen data from other companies that included educational institutions, The Washington Post reported. Thompson was arrested late last month after investigators traced the Capital One breach back to her online messages bragging about the hack.

“Although not all of those intrusions involved the theft of personal identifying information, it appears likely that a number of the intrusions did,” prosecutors wrote in the memo.

She is likely to face new charges based off of the seized servers, and the attorneys say that she is too dangerous to release on bond later this month because of her history of mental health issues and threats to “kill others, to kill herself, and to commit suicide by cop.” Instead, they argue that she should be detained until the case is resolved in court.

In addition to the servers, law enforcement discovered an “arsenal of weapons, ammunition and explosive material” in Thompson’s home. It was stored in the bedroom of her roommate, who is a convicted felon, according to the prosecutors. Agents seized the firearms, which included two flare launchers and two bump stocks.

“The fact that all of these weapons were recovered in the bedroom adjacent to Thompson, most of them readily accessible to her, is obviously of concern, given Thompson’s recurrent threats to commit violence against herself and other,” they wrote.

A hearing to decide the question of Thompson’s release is scheduled for Aug. 22. The prosecutors stressed the gravity of her alleged crimes in their memo, writing that she “poses both a significant danger to the community and a risk of nonappearance” in court.

“Thompson is charged with committing one of the largest cyber intrusions and data thefts in history,” the prosecutors wrote. “The impact of Thompson’s crime will be immense.”

About the Author

Haley Samsel is an Associate Content Editor for the Infrastructure Solutions Group at 1105 Media.

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