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Hacker pleads guilty to breaching company networks to pitch his own services

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Hacker found to be pushing his own cybersecurity consulting

Representational image of a hacker
(Image credit: Shutterstock)
  • Kansas man hacked health club, nonprofit and former employer to promote his services
  • He claimed responsibility and offered remedial support
  • He could face up to five years in prison and more

A Kansas man has plead guilty to hacking multiple organizations only to promote his own cybersecurity services.

Nicholas Michael Kloster, a 32-year-old from Kansas City, was indicted in 2024 for breaching three organizations, including a health club and a Missouri nonprofit organization.

During the incident, Kloster emailed business owners claiming responsibility for the attacks, and offering consulting services to prevent future cyberattacks, and his fate will soon be determined.

Cyberattacker admits to pushing his own consulting services

In one case, Kloster accessed a gym's systems by breaching a restricted area. He manipulated the system to remove his own photo from the member database before reducing his monthly membership fee to $1. He then explained to the business owner that he had bypassed login credentials for security cameras and accessed router settings.

In a separate incident, Kloster used a boot disk to bypass authentication into a nonprofit's systems, stealing sensitive data, installing a VPN and changing user passwords.

A press release from the US Attorney's Office of Western District of Missouri explains that "the company has sustained significant losses in an attempt to remediate the effects from this intrusion."

Furthermore, Kloster is said to have stolen credit card data from a former employer to buy hacking tools (including a thumb drive advertised as a tool for hacking into vulnerable computers) after being fired from the company in April 2024.

The Attorney's Office explained that Kloster's actions deserve him up to five years' imprisonment in federal prison without parole, a fine of up to $250,000, up to three years of supervised release, and an order of restitution. A jury will decide the exact consequences he will face, but the involvement of the FBI suggests Kloster could face some pretty serious punishments.

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Craig Hale
Craig Hale

With several years’ experience freelancing in tech and automotive circles, Craig’s specific interests lie in technology that is designed to better our lives, including AI and ML, productivity aids, and smart fitness. He is also passionate about cars and the decarbonisation of personal transportation. As an avid bargain-hunter, you can be sure that any deal Craig finds is top value!

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