The US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that federal prosecutors charged two men on Friday who allegedly breached the computer systems of Denver- based Photobucket.

Brandon Bourret, 39, and Athanasios Andrianakis, 26, were each arrested on Friday at their homes and were indicted on conspiracy and fraud charges.

The duo knowingly sold passwords and unauthorized access to private and password-protected information to make money between July 2012 and July 2014.

DOJ press release said that the two conspired to commit acts and offenses against the US, namely computer fraud and abuse, access device fraud, identification document fraud and wire fraud.

Bourret and Andrianakis allegedly developed, marketed and sold a software application that allowed users to dodge privacy settings on the Photobucket website. This let them to access and copy users' private and password- protected information.

US Attorney John Walsh said, "It is not safe to hide behind your computer, breach corporate servers and line your own pockets by victimizing those who have a right to protected privacy on the Internet".

He added that the US Attorney's Office is intensely focused to protect those people for their theft and for the reckless harm they do to innocent Internet users. It is not safe to breach corporate servers and line pockets by victimizing those who have a right to protected privacy on the Internet.

Access device fraud carries the longest potential penalty, with up to ten years in federal prison and a $250k fine per count.

According to the indictment (PDF), Bourret and Andrianakis sent emails discussing exploits, customer service messages to Photofucket buyers, and Paypal transfers to fund the operation.