Briton pleads guilty to hacking stars’ Twitter accounts to steal Bitcoin | Science & Tech News

A British man has pleaded responsible to hacking Twitter accounts – together with Barack Obama, Kim Kardashian and Elon Musk – in a bid to con folks out of Bitcoin. 

Joseph O’Connor, 23, additionally admitted different hacking schemes, cyberstalking a younger sufferer, and cash laundering expenses.

He was extradited from Spain to New York final month and faces as a lot as 77 years in jail when he’s sentenced on 23 June.

O’Connor and his co-conspirators stole greater than $794,000 (£629,000) of cryptocurrency – cash he should give again to victims, say prosecutors.

Twitter needed to freeze a few of the stars’ accounts after the tweets in July 2020 urged folks to ship $1,000 in Bitcoin to obtain double again.

He additionally hacked accounts belonging to Kanye West, Joe Biden, Invoice Gates, investor Warren Buffett, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos.

Twitter confirmed 130 accounts have been focused, with 45 used to ship tweets.

The corporate stated the hackers obtained entry by way of a social engineering assault – a breach based mostly on convincing somebody to supply entry, reasonably than discovering flaws in software program.

Twitter stated on the time that “a small number of employees” were called over the phone and tricked into offering their log-in credentials.

The newbie high quality of the rip-off stunned many in contrast with how efficient the attackers had been at gaining entry.

“O’Connor’s felony actions have been flagrant and malicious, and his conduct impacted a number of folks’s lives,” stated Assistant Lawyer Common Kenneth Well mannered.

“He harassed, threatened, and extorted his victims, inflicting substantial emotional hurt.”

O’Connor, who was identified on-line by the deal with PlugWalkJoe and beforehand gave interviews to the media concerning the hack, was arrested in July 2021 in Spain on the request of the FBI.