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Three People Arrested For The Bitcoin Attack On Twitter

Three People Arrested For The Bitcoin Attack On Twitter

Pictured: Sagar Naresh
By Sagar Naresh
August 03, 2020
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Tampa authorities on Friday took three people in custody for the alleged Twitter bitcoin attack, that happened a few weeks ago. Notably,  high profile accounts including Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Apple, Jeff Bezos, Mike Bloomberg, Joe Biden, and Barack Obama were attacked. Besides, several tweets were also posted from all these high-profile accounts on July 15, 2020.

As per reports, the FBI, IRS, US Secret Service, and Florida law enforcement have booked 17-year-old Graham Clark of Tampa, Florida, under arrest. Meanwhile, two more people have been booked for their alleged roles in this Twitter attack. They are Mason Sheppard (aka “Chaewon”), 19, of Bognor Regis in the UK, and Nima Fazeli (aka “Rolex”), age 22, of Orlando, Florida.

Sheppard is booked under “conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and the intentional access of a protected computer” charge. While Fazeli is charged for “aiding and abetting the intentional access of a protected computer.” As per reports, trials on Clarke will be done in Hillsborough County, instead of Tampa, Florida.

130 accounts in total were targeted, with over 36 DM inboxes accessed

As per an official tweet by Twitter, these alleged attackers targeted around 130 accounts. And, out of these 130, DM’s of 36 accounts were accessed and data were stolen from 7 accounts.

“While investigations into cyber breaches can sometimes take years, our investigators were able to bring these hackers into custody in a matter of weeks. Regardless of how long it takes us to identify hackers, we will follow the evidence to where it leads us and ultimately hold those responsible for cyber intrusions accountable for their actions.Cybercriminals will not find sanctuary behind their keyboards,” FBI Special Agent in Charge John L. Bennett said in a statement. “Upon opening an investigation into this attack, our investigators worked quickly to determine who was responsible and to locate those individuals.”

The 17-year-old Clark is under arrest with over 30 felony counts. Allegedly, Clark got access to the internal system and is the main antagonist in this foul play. Moreover, Twitter also shed some light on the alleged plans of the attack.

The attackers carried out a phone phishing attack on a few Twitter employees. Apparently, their credentials were then used to hack the internal system. The tweets sent out via the hacked accounts of celebs and politicians demanded bitcoin from their followers.

A specific address was also given and users were promised double bitcoins in return. Twitter thanked law enforcement for their prompt action in this huge attack.