UK man arrested for role in major 2020 Twitter hack of Apple, Biden, Obama, and Musk accounts
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A British man has been arrested in Spain in connection with the major 2020 Twitter hack of several high-profile accounts including Apple, President Joe Biden, former President Barack Obama, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, and hundreds of others, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.
Joseph O’Connor, 22, was arrested in Estepona, Spain, for his alleged involvement in a July 2020 cybersecurity attack of more than 130 verified Twitter accounts, authorities said. Federal prosecutors also charged O'Connor with taking over user accounts on social media apps TikTok and Snapchat, and a separate charge of cyberstalking a juvenile.
The criminal complaint filed in federal court in the Northern District of California based in San Francisco charges O’Connor with cyberstalking, making extortive and threatening communications and intentionally accessing a computer without authorization, the DOJ said. O'Connor is expected to be extradited to the U.S. It is not known if O'Connor has a lawyer.
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During the high-profile hack on July 15, 2020, fake messages soliciting bitcoin appeared on the verified Twitter accounts of Biden, Obama, Musk, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Berkshire Hathaway CEO and president Warren Buffett, former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the corporate accounts of the Cash app and rideshare giant Uber.
Celebrities also targeted in the bitcoin scam included multiplatinum-selling hip-hop star Kanye West and his now ex-wife, TV reality star Kim Kardashian and platinum-selling hip-hop star Wiz Khalifa to name a few. It was the largest breach in Twitter's history.
Twitter declined to comment Wednesday on O'Connor's arrest. TikTok and Snapchat couldn't be immediately reached for comment.
In March, a Florida teenager was sentenced to three years in prison for his role in the hacking operation. Graham Ivan Clark pleaded guilty to multiple fraud charges as part of a deal with Hillsborough County prosecutors.
Andrew Warren, the Florida state attorney who prosecuted Clark, told the Associated Press last year that he considered him the mastermind of the plot.
Contributing: Associated Press
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: UK man charged in Twitter hack of Apple, Biden, and Musk accounts
