UK man pleads guilty to 2020 hijacking Twitter accounts of Biden, Obama, Kim Kardashian
Joseph James O'Connor was arrested nearly two years ago in Spain for the hack.
A man from the United Kingdom (UK) has pleaded guilty to cyberstalking and computer hacking schemes, including the 2020 hack of Twitter, according to the US Justice Department on Tuesday (May 9). Joseph James O'Connor pleaded guilty to charges including conspiring to commit computer intrusions, to commit wire fraud, and to commit money laundering. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 23.
In 2020, Twitter accounts of then-US presidential election candidate Joe Biden, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and former US president Barack Obama were hacked. The accounts of Kim Kardashian, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, American business magnate Warren Buffett, and rapper Kanye West were also hit.
O'Connor, 23, was extradited to the US on April 26 and was charged in both North Dakota and New York. A report by the news agency Reuters on Wednesday said that the North Dakota case was transferred to the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.
In a statement, Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite said that O'Connor's criminal activities were flagrant and malicious, and his conduct impacted multiple people’s lives. The 23-year-old harassed, threatened, and extorted his victims, causing substantial emotional harm, Polite added.
On the other hand, US Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey for the Northern District of California said that O'Connor left an impressive trail of destruction in the wake of his wave of criminality.
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“This case serves as a warning that the reach of the law is long, and criminals anywhere who use computers to commit crimes may end up facing the consequences of their actions in places they did not anticipate,” Ramsey added.
The cyberstalking and computer hacking schemes included gaining unauthorized access to social media accounts on Twitter in July 2020 as well as a TikTok account the next month, as per prosecutors. Along with his co-conspirators, O'Connor stole at least $794,000 worth of cryptocurrency.
O'Connor was arrested nearly two years ago in Spain for the hack. He used the accounts to solicit digital currency, prompting Twitter to prevent some verified accounts from publishing messages for several hours until security could be restored.
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