A British citizen who was recently extradited to the United States has admitted his involvement in one of the largest social media hacks in history. The Twitter hack, which occurred in July 2020, affected more than 130 accounts, including those belonging to Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
The individual, identified as Joseph James O’Connor, also known as PlugwalkJoe, pleaded guilty to hacking charges that carry a maximum sentence of over 70 years in prison. The hack was part of a widespread Bitcoin scam.
O’Connor, who was extradited from Spain, took control of numerous Twitter accounts and posted tweets urging followers to send Bitcoin to a specified account with the promise of doubling their money.
Alongside O’Connor, three other men were charged in connection with the scam. In 2021, US teenager Graham Ivan Clark pleaded guilty, while Nima Fazeli from Orlando, Florida, and Mason Sheppard from Bognor Regis in the UK faced federal charges.
US Assistant Attorney-General Kenneth Polite Jr condemned O’Connor’s actions, describing them as “blatant and malicious.” Polite added that O’Connor had subjected his victims to harassment, threats, and extortion, causing significant emotional harm.
O’Connor, like many other criminals, attempted to maintain anonymity by using computers, stealth accounts, and aliases from outside the United States. However, this guilty plea demonstrates the determination of investigators and prosecutors to track down and bring such criminals to justice.
The Twitter hack in 2020 had a significant impact, with approximately 350 million users witnessing suspicious tweets from prominent accounts. Thousands of people fell victim to a scam, believing in a legitimate cryptocurrency giveaway.
Experts in cybersecurity agreed that the consequences of the hack could have been far more severe if O’Connor and his fellow hackers had more sophisticated plans beyond a simple get-rich-quick scheme. The attackers had the potential to spread disinformation that could influence political discussions and manipulate markets through well-crafted fake business announcements.
The Twitter hack exposed the vulnerabilities in the platform’s security at the time. The hackers utilized social engineering tactics, reminiscent of con artists rather than sophisticated cybercriminals, to convince a small number of Twitter employees to disclose their internal login details. This ultimately granted the hackers access to Twitter’s powerful administrative tools.
Picture Courtesy: Google/images are subject to copyright
