A Florida teenager who planned to hack Twitter for prominent accounts like Bill Gates and Barack Obama last summer was sentenced to three years in prison and three years of probation this week.
Graham Ivan Clark, who was 17 at the time of the hack but now 18, pleaded guilty to 30 criminal charges as part of a court settlement, officials announced.
Prosecutors say Clark and his co-conspirators broke into several Twitter accounts, including politicians like Barack Obama and Mike Bloomberg; business leaders like Elon Musk and Bill Gates; and celebrities like Kanye West and Kim Kardashian.
Twitter explained that hackers “targeted a small number of employees through a telephone phishing attack”, which allowed them to “gain access to our internal network, as well as the specific credentials of employees who granted them access to our security tools” internal support “.
BAD GUYS WILL TRY TO UNDERSTAND THIRD STIMULUS CHECK PAYMENTS, SAYS THE GOVERNMENT
Clark then sent fake tweets from the hacked accounts, telling followers that they would send $ 2,000 in Bitcoin for every $ 1,000 that was sent to an anonymous address.
The coup netted Clark 12.86 Bitcoin on July 15 last year, which was worth approximately $ 117,440 at the time.
“He took over the accounts of famous people, but the money he stole came from normal, hard-working people. Graham Clark needs to be held responsible for this crime, and other potential scammers need to see the consequences,” said Hillsborough State. Lawyer Andrew Warren said Tuesday.
“In that case, we were able to deliver these consequences by recognizing that our goal with any child, whenever possible, is to make them learn the lesson without destroying their future.”
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Clark and two other people allegedly involved in the hack – Mason Sheppard, 19, from the United Kingdom, and Nima Fazeli, 22, from Orlando – were identified and charged just two weeks after the crime, when federal agents tracked them through their bitcoin transactions and online chats.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.