Florida teen masterminded Twitter hack that hit Biden, Musk accounts among others

[rooster59]

Florida teen masterminded Twitter hack that hit Biden, Musk accounts among others

By Raphael Satter, Katie Paul and Elizabeth Culliford

 

FILE PHOTO: The Twitter logo and binary cyber codes are seen in this illustration taken November 26, 2019. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic

 

(Reuters) - A 17-year-old Florida boy masterminded the hacking of celebrity accounts on Twitter Inc <TWTR.N>, including those of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk, officials said on Friday.

 

A 19-year-old British man and a 22-year-old man in Orlando, Florida were also charged under U.S. federal law with aiding the attack, the Justice Department said.

 

Florida's State Attorney identified the 17-year-old as Graham Clark of Tampa and charged him as an adult with 30 felony counts of fraud. Clark netted at least $100,000 from the scheme by using the celebrity accounts to solicit investments from unsuspecting Twitter users.

 

"He's a 17-year-old kid who just graduated from high school," said Florida State Attorney Andrew Warren in Hillsborough County, which includes Tampa, "But make no mistake: This was not an ordinary 17-year-old."

 

Mason Sheppard, a 19-year-old from Bogner Regis, Britain who used the alias Chaewon, was charged with wire fraud and money laundering while Orlando-based Nima Fazeli, 22, nicknamed Rolex, was accused of aiding and abetting the crimes, according to a Justice Department statement.

 

Twitter said it appreciated the "swift actions of law enforcement."

 

Clark and one of the other participants were in custody, officials said.

 

In the hack, fraudulent tweets soliciting investments in the digital currency bitcoin were posted in mid-July by 45 verified Twitter accounts, including those belonging to Biden, former President Barack Obama and billionaire Bill Gates.

Twitter said the hackers also likely read some direct messages including to a Dutch elected official.

 

Clark was able to obtain more than $100,000 that way, a public bitcoin ledger showed.

 

Twitter has said its employees were duped into sharing account credentials.

 

Sheppard and Fazeli did not return emails seeking comment. An attorney for Clark could not be immediately identified. Phone calls and an email to Clark's mother were not immediately returned.

 

Warren said the state rather than federal government was prosecuting Clark because Florida law enabled him to be charged as an adult.

 

StopSIMCrime founder Robert Ross, whose group tries to combat a popular hacking technique, said the case showed the prowess of adolescent amateurs at defeating corporate security.

 

"Groups of teens/youngsters are doing this en masse," he said by email. "It's really a national security risk," he said.

 

(Reporting by Akanksha Rana in Bengaluru, Raphael Satter in Washington, D.C., Katie Paul in San Francisco and Elizabeth Culliford in Birmingham, England; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-08-01

 

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[JohnnyNJoy]

He's going to get a lot of time in jail for this I imagine. They seem to take hacking and other similar things serious. 17, 19, and 22 years old and already going to jail. ???? 

[tonray]

31 minutes ago, JohnnyNJoy said:

He's going to get a lot of time in jail for this I imagine. They seem to take hacking and other similar things serious. 17, 19, and 22 years old and already going to jail. ???? 

Not going to be fun locked up with real hardened criminals either....ouch

[Tug]

Smart kid to bad he wasent blessed with the wisdom to know there would be consequences for his act hope he gets (spanked)but not so hard as to ruin his life

[Thailand]

He is more likely to end up working for the FBI.

[ezzra]

At 17 and already a master criminal, they start young nowadays don't they?...

[Tounge Thaied]

1 hour ago, JohnnyNJoy said:

He's going to get a lot of time in jail for this I imagine. They seem to take hacking and other similar things serious. 17, 19, and 22 years old and already going to jail. ???? 

Nahh!! They will be recruited...

[shdmn]

Sounds like a future US president to me. 

Edited August 1, 2020 by shdmn

[stevenl]

Why is he being charged as an adult, and why is this a deciding factor in by whom he is being charged?

[rvaviator]

Lets see if he can hack himself out of prison ...

[phantomfiddler]

These R-Soles should be executed on TV, and shown in slow motion to see their smirk disappear after the bullet enters their ear ???? All malicious hackers should suffer the same fate ????

[DoctorG]

I can frown and smile at this. Obviously fraud and hacking are crimes and should attract punishment, but one can admire the talent at the same time. Talented youths should be nurtured before they turn to crime and fast-tracked into cyber security.

Edited August 1, 2020 by DoctorG

[boonrawdcnx]

Not a hack really they just conned security credentials out of Twitter employees. And not a word about those stupid enough to transfer their BTC to strangers.

Who in his right mind - even if it came from “celebrity” accounts sends money purely on the promise of getting returned more? The classic Nigerian scam just Hightech!

So let’s see people: I am a billionaire and I will send you my bank account (or wallet) sequence and if you transfer any amount to me I will send you twice as much back!

Hurry up because I am doing this only for the next 30 minutes!! 

How many people are really stupid or greedy enough to do this? Obviously quite a few. One even tweeted Musk demanding his BTC! 

 

 

Edited August 1, 2020 by boonrawdcnx

[Mama Noodle]

3 minutes ago, boonrawdcnx said:

Not a hack really they just conned security credentials out of Twitter employees.

That’s pretty much what hacking is though. It’s not forcing code and breaking security protocols, it’s duping people and fishing. It’s trickery and social engineering. 
 

If I can manage to trick you into giving me your credentials, then that’s your basic hack. 

[Mama Noodle]

When everything is said and done these kids, if it’s their first non-violent offense, they probably gonna get a very firm wrist slap and as long as they keep their nose clean after, they should be ok. 

[DoctorG]

31 minutes ago, Mama Noodle said:

When everything is said and done these kids, if it’s their first non-violent offense, they probably gonna get a very firm wrist slap and as long as they keep their nose clean after, they should be ok. 

Hope so, but it depends how vindictive people want to be.

[boonrawdcnx]

1 hour ago, Mama Noodle said:

When everything is said and done these kids, if it’s their first non-violent offense, they probably gonna get a very firm wrist slap and as long as they keep their nose clean after, they should be ok. 

Na - they need to be made an example of and go to prison for years. What they did Is criminal. With the world turning more and more digital /crypto/ blockchain / fintech / DeFi the cost for security because of these criminals is staggering. The damage they can cause is enormous if somebody robs a house, store or a bank or an online account / wallet -a crime is a crime. It will get worse and worse if there is no strong deterrent -the use of digital assets/contracts  will grow enormously in the near future  and it needs to be secure from these a..holes. The world is watching China rolling out its government crypto currency on a big scale as we speak. Using digital assets going cash less will be an enormous challenge especially for the older generation they will be most vulnerable to these hacker-gangsters who think robbing other people of their hard earned assets is cool. 

[stevenl]

2 hours ago, DoctorG said:

I can frown and smile at this. Obviously fraud and hacking are crimes and should attract punishment, but one can admire the talent at the same time. Talented youths should be nurtured before they turn to crime and fast-tracked into cyber security.

 

2 hours ago, Mama Noodle said:

When everything is said and done these kids, if it’s their first non-violent offense, they probably gonna get a very firm wrist slap and as long as they keep their nose clean after, they should be ok. 

 

2 hours ago, DoctorG said:

Hope so, but it depends how vindictive people want to be.

Surprised by the call for leniency by some of our usual calling for law and order members.

[Mama Noodle]

37 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Surprised by the call for leniency by some of our usual calling for law and order members.

Because unlike the usual suspects who have no depth or intelligence, law and order members can tell the the difference between kids mucking about on the internet in a non-violent first offense, and hardened, habitually violent criminals, rioters, assaulters, rapists, and killers. 
 

It’s called nuance. You should try it. 

[Gandtee]

5 hours ago, JohnnyNJoy said:

He's going to get a lot of time in jail for this I imagine. They seem to take hacking and other similar things serious. 17, 19, and 22 years old and already going to jail. ???? 

Or give him a job in anti hacking.

[nausea]

i'm guessing he might have a bit of status in prison, cos of his high profile offence, so it might not be too bad. Anyway, stick a hacker among hardened criminals, great idea; like, they're not gonna share knowledge are they?

[Rimmer]

Troll post and troll reply removed

[Jaybott]

8 hours ago, stevenl said:

Why is he being charged as an adult, and why is this a deciding factor in by whom he is being charged?

If charged as a minor the sentence is usually not as stiff and once he reaches adult age his record is sealed when his sentence is completed.

In most states the age of adult is 18.  Some states have it at 17 some 19 etc.

 

If found guilty he will be a convicted felon with a criminal record for the rest of his life.

 

Another thing.  It can also be used a scrare tactic to get him to flip on his co-conspiritors.  Do you want to be a convicted felon or just a 17 year old dumbass that made a mistake.

Edited August 1, 2020 by Jaybott
Added some information.

[OneMoreFarang]

7 hours ago, phantomfiddler said:

These R-Soles should be executed on TV, and shown in slow motion to see their smirk disappear after the bullet enters their ear ???? All malicious hackers should suffer the same fate ????

And then there are the internet trolls who think that everybody should die for whatever they did.

Often they seem to be grumpy old men who were never young... 

[stevenl]

1 hour ago, Jaybott said:

If charged as a minor the sentence is usually not as stiff and once he reaches adult age his record is sealed when his sentence is completed.

In most states the age of adult is 18.  Some states have it at 17 some 19 etc.

 

If found guilty he will be a convicted felon with a criminal record for the rest of his life.

 

Another thing.  It can also be used a scrare tactic to get him to flip on his co-conspiritors.  Do you want to be a convicted felon or just a 17 year old dumbass that made a mistake.

Thanks for that. I guess my question really was related to that it seems to be up to the prosecution how he is charged, adult or juvenile. And I find it really strange the prosecution seems to have that choice. Here both federal and state seem to have that choice.

 

Is that correct, is it up to the prosecution? If so, what is the reasoning behind that?

[Cryingdick]

9 hours ago, stevenl said:

Thanks for that. I guess my question really was related to that it seems to be up to the prosecution how he is charged, adult or juvenile. And I find it really strange the prosecution seems to have that choice. Here both federal and state seem to have that choice.

 

Is that correct, is it up to the prosecution? If so, what is the reasoning behind that?

 

I never understood this either. They should change laws so juveniles can receive enhanced sentences that carry on after they become legal age. I believe that they have done this in some places so you commit murder when you are 13 you can be held past 18.

 

However it seems arbitrary how they determine a juvenile becomes eligible to be charged as an adult. I have always found it disturbing that a 12 year old child can not be given the benefit of being an adult in regards to the rights they are afforded but only has the criminal jeopardy of penalties that can be levied against them.

 

If he is acquitted can he vote and drink beer? It is troubling that a 12 year old can face being sentenced to the death sentence yet isn't allowed to drive a car. You can't have it both ways.

 

As far as this guy goes I guess something like 18 months at Club Fed would probably be about right. I was disappointed to hear he managed to do that and get a measly $100K. Certainly no mastermind criminal.

[Chomper Higgot]

1 hour ago, Cryingdick said:

 

I never understood this either. They should change laws so juveniles can receive enhanced sentences that carry on after they become legal age. I believe that they have done this in some places so you commit murder when you are 13 you can be held past 18.

 

However it seems arbitrary how they determine a juvenile becomes eligible to be charged as an adult. I have always found it disturbing that a 12 year old child can not be given the benefit of being an adult in regards to the rights they are afforded but only has the criminal jeopardy of penalties that can be levied against them.

 

If he is acquitted can he vote and drink beer? It is troubling that a 12 year old can face being sentenced to the death sentence yet isn't allowed to drive a car. You can't have it both ways.

 

As far as this guy goes I guess something like 18 months at Club Fed would probably be about right. I was disappointed to hear he managed to do that and get a measly $100K. Certainly no mastermind criminal.

The logic of ‘12 year old’ is that this is the age by which children are regarded to be aware of ‘right and wrong’. 

 

It comes from English mob law but I believe used to to be 10 years in English law.

 

It’s a legal definition of the age to be accountable for criminal actions, nothing to do with voting and other ‘adult’ rights and responsibilities.