Twitter Hacker Admits Guilt in New York Court, Extradited from Spain

Joseph James O’Connor, a 23-yr-outdated British guy, has admitted his involvement in hacking schemes targeting substantial-profile Twitter accounts, which include those of Barack Obama and Elon Musk. 

O’Connor was extradited from Spain on April 26 after getting arrested almost two years back. He pleaded guilty in a New York courtroom earlier this week. 

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Go through more on this case here: US Indicts Brit About SIM Swap Crypto Theft

In addition to the Twitter breaches, O’Connor’s hacking group used SIM card swaps to obtain access to various social media accounts, such as those people belonging to TikTok star Addison Rae and actress Bella Thorne, with the intention of exposing their non-public details. The team also utilized this strategy to steal $794,000 value of virtual currency from a cryptocurrency organization in New York.

Recognized as “PlugwalkJoe” online, the British male now faces expenses of personal computer intrusion, extortion, stalking, wire fraud and income laundering, which have a greatest sentence of 20 several years in prison.

“Considering the volume of cybercrime which is influencing corporations and individuals, this is just a tiny action in the correct route,” Mike Parkin, senior technological engineer at Vulcan Cyber, advised Infosecurity in an email.

In accordance to the security qualified, even though the conviction may well be a slight deterrent to everyday criminals in Western nations, it will be insignificant at very best and will do almost nothing to discourage cyber-criminals in nations that are not pleasant to the West.  

“While these felony prosecutions do require to materialize, they really do not tackle the root issues that empower these legal functions,” Parkin additional. “It’s substantially greater to place resources into avoiding the incident (better cybersecurity) than into cleansing up following the point (investigation and prosecution).”

The conviction will come a pair of months just after a team of UK regulation enforcers declared that they efficiently broke up a sizeable funds laundering operation, with the remaining three customers of the gang being sentenced in March.

Editorial image credit: max.ku / Shutterstock.com