A British hacker, Joseph James O’Connor, 24, who was part of a group that broke into dozens of high-profile Twitter accounts in 2020 has been sentenced to five years in prison.
O’Connor was sentenced in a New York federal court to five years in prison after pleading guilty in May to four counts of computer hacking, wire fraud and cyberstalking. O’Connor also agreed to forfeit at least $794,000 to the victims of his crimes.
O’Connor, who used the online handle PlugWalkJoe, was part of a group that used phone-based social engineering techniques to trick Twitter employees into granting them access to Twitter’s network. Once they had access, the hackers were able to hijack and reassign Twitter user accounts, including those of Apple, Binance, Bill Gates, Joe Biden and Elon Musk. The group then used the hacked accounts to spread cryptocurrency get-rich-quick scams.
In court, O’Connor apologized to his victims and said his crimes were “stupid and pointless.” He also asked the judge for leniency, saying that he had learned his lesson and was committed to turning his life around. The judge eventually sentenced O’Connor to five years in prison, but said that he would likely serve about half of that time.
The sources for this piece include an article in TechCrunch.