Last month, a British citizen who was extradited to the US pleaded guilty in New York to participating in one of the biggest social media hacks in history.
In July 2020, over 130 accounts, including those of Barack Obama and Joe Biden, were compromised in the Twitter hack. Joseph James O'Connor, 23, also known as PlugwalkJoe, admitted to charges related to the hack, which could result in a maximum sentence of over 70 years in prison.
The hack was part of a large-scale Bitcoin scam in which O'Connor hijacked various Twitter accounts and tweeted requests for followers to send Bitcoin to a specific account, promising to double their money.
O'Connor, who comes from Liverpool, was charged with three other individuals in connection with the scam.
In a statement, US Assistant Attorney-General Kenneth Polite Jr denounced O'Connor's actions as "flagrant and malicious," claiming that he had "harassed, threatened, and extorted his victims, causing significant emotional harm."
What is Bitcoin, and Cryptocurrency?
Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency with a limited supply of 21 million units that operates on a peer-to-peer network and is verified and recorded on a public ledger called the blockchain. It can be used for purchases and traded for other cryptocurrencies or fiat currencies.
Cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual currency that uses cryptography (the practice of secure communication) to secure and verify transactions and to control the creation of new units.
Cryptocurrencies operate independently of central banks and are decentralized, which means they are not subject to government or financial institution control. Cryptocurrencies rely on blockchain technology, which is a public ledger that records all transactions and stores them in blocks that are linked and secured using cryptography.
The most popular and well-known cryptocurrency is Bitcoin, but there are many other types of cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum, and Litecoin.
Cryptocurrencies can be bought, sold, and traded on various online platforms, and they can also be used to purchase goods and services from businesses that accept them as payment.
How did it occur?
The hack exposed the vulnerability of Twitter's security measures at that time. The attackers utilized social engineering techniques, similar to those employed by con artists rather than sophisticated cybercriminals, to convince a handful of Twitter employees to disclose their internal login credentials.
This enabled the hackers to gain access to Twitter's potent administrative tools. Essentially, the hackers utilized social engineering tactics to exploit the employees' trust, gaining access to the site's internal control panel.
Celebrities including musicians Kanye West, Wiz Khalifa, US boxer Floyd Mayweather, and also Former Mayor of New York City Mike Bloomberg lost control of their accounts.
Aftermath:
The incident remains a highly embarrassing moment in Twitter's tumultuous past, and Joseph James O'Connor's confession was not surprising given the abundance of publicly available evidence.
The hackers made numerous errors and were too exuberant in their celebrations following the hack. O'Connor also admitted to other hacking offenses, including breaking into a prominent TikTok account, where he posted a video using his own voice, threatening to disclose sensitive personal information related to the account's owner to people who joined a Discord group.
According to the US Department of Justice, he also employed technology to stalk a minor.
