Attorney, engineer plead not guilty to cyberattack

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WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Wichita lawyer and a computer software engineer have pleaded not guilty to a federal indictment alleging they plotted cyberattacks on websites with information criticizing the attorney’s work.

KWCH-TV reports that Wichita lawyer Bradley Pistotnik and VIRAL Artificial Intelligence Co-Founder David Dorsett made their first court appearances Wednesday in federal court on an indictment charging them with computer fraud and conspiracy. The 62-year-old attorney is also charged with making false statements to the FBI.

Both men are free on $25,000 bonds.

The indictment alleges that Pistotnik and Dorsett are responsible for cyberattacks on Leagle.com, Ripoffreport.com and JaburgWilk.com in 2014 and 2015. The indictment also accuses Dorsett of filling website inboxes with threats. Court records say one email demands that a webpage be removed or the hackers will target advertisers.