Thee individuals: two from Florida and one based in the United Kingdom were charged Friday for their alleged roles in a wide scale hack of the Twitter social media site, the U. S. Department of Justice announced on Friday.<\/b>
\nThee individuals: two from Florida and one based in the United Kingdom were charged Friday for their alleged roles in a wide scale hack of the Twitter social media site, the U. S. Department of Justice announced on Friday. The announcement is the latest development following a security breach on July 15th and 16th that saw the accounts of some of Twitter\u2019s biggest users, including former President Barack Obama, taken over and used to promote a cryptocurrency scam. Mason Sheppard (aka \u201cChaewon\u201d) of Bognor Regis in the United Kingdom is 19 and was charged in a criminal complaint filed in the Northern District of California with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and the intentional access of a protected computer. (Read the criminal complaint here.) Nima Fazeli (aka \u201cRolex\u201d) of Orlando, Florida is 22. He was charged in a criminal complaint with aiding and abetting the intentional access of a protected computer. (Read the criminal complaint here.) A third defendant was not named by Federal authorities. The Justice Department said it has referred the individual to the State Attorney for the 13th Judicial District in Tampa, Florida. However, a statement by Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren early on Friday named that individual as Graham Ivan Clark,17, a resident of Tampa Florida. Warren said Clark was \u201cthe mastermind of the recent hack of Twitter.\u201d According to the indictment, the hackers compromised over 100 social media accounts and used them to \u201cscam\u201d both the account holders and other Twitter users who sent money to BitCoin accounts promoted via the hijacked accounts. Though speculation about the hack at the time centered on sophisticated adversaries or nation-state affiliated hacking groups, there was early evidence that the Twitter hacks were the work of young and relatively inexperienced hackers. In the immediate aftermath of the breach conversations by those involved or with knowledge of the scheme and conducted over the Discord platform with reporters, security researchers and others laid bare a loosely organized scheme by three hackers who met online and shared an enthusiasm for unusual or exotic social media account names. In all the attacks netted the criminals around $100,000 from hundreds of BitCoin transfers. Twitter was forced to suspend Twitter verified accounts from posting for hours as it investigated the breach and secured its environment. It also laid bare glaring security weaknesses at one of the world\u2019s most influential social media platforms. A report by Reuters on July 23 said that more than 1,000 Twitter employees had access to the platform used manage the accounts — a shocking number given the platform\u2019s A-list users including Bill Gates, former President Barack Obama and likely Democratic nominee Joe Biden. Such broad access made securing the platform more difficult. In a video statement, U. S. Attorney David L. Anderson for the Northern District of California said that the investigation is ongoing. \u201cIf you have information or were involved in the Twitter VIP attack, identify yourself. This investigation will continue, either way.\u201d<\/p>\n