US Extradites UK Hacker Responsible for 2020 Twitter Breach and Crypto Theft
The United State Department of Justice has announced the extradition of a 23-year-old UK citizen behind the 2020 Twitter hack and other cybercrimes, including the theft of $794,000 in digital assets.
Joseph Hames O'Connor has pleaded guilty to being a key player in orchestrating a series of cybercrimes in the United States.
These crimes include the popular Twitter breach in July 2020 that compromised over 100 high-profile accounts and a sim-swap attack to steal $794,000 worth of crypto assets.
The U.S. Attorney's Office Southern District of New York confirmed that O'Connor, known by his online name, "PlugwalkJoe," was originally a legal citizen of Liverpool, United Kingdom, but was extradited from Spain to the United States on April 26th to face legal prosecution.
The 2020 Twitter breach caused an online whirl storm that resulted in the temporary takeover of popular personalities' accounts. These include the accounts of Barack Obama, Elon Musk, and Bill Gates, which were used to promote Bitcoin giveaway scams.
Despite active multi-factor authentication, O'Connor and his team of attackers navigated these accounts easily and amassed a whooping 11.3BTC from exploited victims worth $103,960.
These attackers managed to hide scam warnings from Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao.
Florida-based resident and O'Connor's associate, Graham Ivan Clark, was arrested in March 2021 and tried as a minor because he was 17 at the time of the cyber attack. He received a 3-year prison sentence.
According to the Justice Department's official press release, O'Connor purchased unauthorized Twitter accounts for $10,000, leading to the theft of $794,000 worth of digital assets.
The Southern District of New York (SDYN) charged the UK's hacker after he
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