Tech
Twitter hacker in the back of tainted 2020 breach sentenced to 5 years in prison
Twitter hacker Joseph O’Connor changed into sentenced to 5 years in prison on Friday.
Credit score: Bob Al-Greene / Mashable
In 2020, Twitter accounts for Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and others had been compromised in a foremost hack. After the accounts of the previous and most up-to-date president — as neatly as public figures like Elon Musk and Invoice Gates — had been breached, hackers sent tweets hawking a cryptocurrency rip-off.
Now, quick forward to Friday, and one among the hackers, Joseph James O’Connor, has been sentenced to 5 years(opens in a recent tab) in prison for cybercrimes, the BBC stories. O’Connor must forfeit no longer decrease than $794,000 to the victims of his crimes, as neatly.
The 24-yr-dilapidated UK citizen, identified as PlugwalkJoe online, changed into extradited from Spain to the U.S. in April. In Would possibly perchance, O’Connor pleaded guilty(opens in a recent tab) to four counts of computer hacking, wire fraud, and cyberstalking, per Tech Crunch.
O’Connor and fellow hackers used social engineering ways on Twitter workers to build salvage admission to to its community. Consistent with an investigation by Recent York’s Department of Financial Products and companies, they known as Twitter workers and claimed to be the IT division(opens in a recent tab).
Graham Ivan Clark, yet every other hacker identified as Kirk, used that salvage admission to to hijack and reassign Twitter accounts, Tech Crunch reported. Every so often, the hackers had salvage admission to to any Twitter fable they wished. (Clark pleaded guilty(opens in a recent tab) to fraud costs in 2021, and changed into sentenced to three years in prison.) The hackers stole around $120,000.
Twitter responded at the time by fleet combating anybody from tweeting and resetting passwords:
Tweet would possibly maybe presumably had been deleted
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Following the assault, Twitter talked about it improved cybersecurity controls(opens in a recent tab).
O’Connor known as his crimes “silly and pointless” in court, per Tech Crunch, and apologized to his victims. U.S. Assistant Attorney-Traditional Kenneth Neatly mannered Jr. steered BBC in a statement that O’Connor’s actions had been “flagrant and malicious” and that he “pressured, threatened and extorted his victims, causing enormous emotional harm.”
Anna Iovine is the intercourse and relationships reporter at Mashable, the put she covers topics ranging from relationship apps to pelvic anguish. Beforehand, she changed into a social editor at VICE and freelanced for publications equivalent to Slate and the Columbia Journalism Evaluate. Apply her on Twitter @annaroseiovine(opens in a recent tab).
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