JAKARTA - A British national extradited from Spain last month pleaded guilty to cyber torture schemes and computer hacking, including the hacking of Twitter's social media site in 2020. This was revealed according to the US Department of Justice on Tuesday, May 9.
Joseph James O'Connor, 23, was indicted in North Dakota and New York. The case of North Dakota was transferred to the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.
O'Connor pleaded guilty to charges including conspiring to commit computer intrusion, committing wire fraud, and committing money laundering.
O'Connor, who was extradited to the US on April 26, will also confiscate more than $794,000 and pay restitution to the victim, according to prosecutors. He faces a maximum sentence of 77 years in prison when the verdict was handed down on June 23.
"O'Connor's criminal activities are striking and evil, and his behavior affects the lives of some people. He harasses, threatens, and extortes victims, causing substantial emotional losses," Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite said in a statement.
Prosecutors said the scheme included obtaining unauthorized access to social media accounts on Twitter in July 2020 as well as TikTok accounts in August 2020. Together with his colleagues, O'Connor stole at least $794,000 in cryptocurrency.
The July 2020 Twitter attacks took over various verified accounts, including those held by Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk, who now owns Twitter.
The accounts of former President Barack Obama, reality TV star Kim Kardashian, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Benjamin Netanyahu, Jeff Bezos, Michael Bloomberg, and Kanye West were also affected.
The hacker allegedly used the account to request digital currency, so Twitter prevented several verified accounts from publishing messages for several hours until security could be restored.
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