In a striking case of cybercrime, Skylar Dalziel, a 22-year-old from Luton, has been handed a 21-month suspended sentence for stealing unreleased music from globally renowned artists like Coldplay, Shawn Mendes, and Bebe Rexha. Dalziel exploited cloud storage accounts linked to these artists, illegally accessing copyrighted tracks and selling them on the dark web for an estimated £42,000 between April 2021 and January 2023.
Her activities were uncovered when Sony Music Entertainment reported a breach in Upsahl’s cloud account to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). Investigations led to Dalziel’s online forum profile, which was linked to her home in Luton. A police raid uncovered evidence of nearly 290,000 tracks on her hard drives.
Dalziel’s scheme impacted not only the artists but also their teams and record companies, jeopardizing livelihoods and causing potential financial losses. “This type of activity doesn’t just impact artists but also thousands of workers in the music industry,” noted prosecutor Richard Partridge.
Despite her illicit gains, Dalziel avoided prison time, instead receiving 180 hours of unpaid work and a suspended sentence. Authorities believe she worked with international accomplices and are collaborating with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to investigate further.
DC Daryl Fryatt from the City of London Police emphasized the broader implications: “Cybercrime like this jeopardizes over 80,000 jobs annually. Today’s sentencing demonstrates our commitment to holding offenders accountable.”
The case serves as a stark reminder of the vulnerabilities in digital systems and the lasting impact cybercrime can have on the creative industries.
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