Security News > 2021 > July > US court gets UK Twitter hack suspect arrested in Spain

In contrast, the Twitter hack we're referring to ultimately led to the takeover of just 45 accounts.

The suspects were alleged to have previous form in hacking and trading in so-called OG accounts, where OG is short for original gangster.

In this hack they didn't plan to sell on the high-profile accounts that they hijacked; they used them to promote a cryptocoin scam that they hoped people would fall for because of the reach and influence of the accounts involved.

The hack, Twitter ultimately figured out, was human-led rather than technology-driven, with the scammers using social engineering tricks - sweet-talking secrets out of support staff on the phone, to you and me - to wrangle access credentials out of Twitter staff.

One year on, and a fourth person, Joseph O'Connor, 22, is now not only under investigation for his alleged involvement in this hack, but under arrest in Spain.

I]n addition to the July 15, 2020, hack of Twitter, O'Connor is charged with computer intrusions related to takeovers of TikTok and Snapchat user accounts.

News URL

https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2021/07/23/us-court-gets-uk-twitter-hack-suspect-arrested-in-spain/