Briton 'PlugwalkJoe' Sentenced for 2020 Twitter Hack, SIM-Swapping Attacks
Joseph 'PlugwalkJoe' O'Connor, a 24-year-old Briton, has been sentenced to five years in a U.S. prison for his role in the 2020 Twitter hack and other cybercrimes. He admitted to conducting SIM swapping attacks, stealing over $1.6 million in digital currency, and targeting female celebrities.
O'Connor was part of a community specializing in SIM-swapping, a technique that allows attackers to take over online identities by transferring a victim's phone number to a SIM card controlled by the hacker. He pleaded guilty to conspiring to hack Twitter, cyberstalking, and cryptocurrency theft enabled by SIM swapping.
In the Twitter hack, O'Connor and three others, including alleged mastermind Graham Ivan Clarke, tricked an employee into providing access to internal tools. However, it's important to note that the Twitter hack did not involve SIM-swapping. O'Connor separately admitted to using SIM-swapping to steal over $1.6 million in digital currency from cryptocurrency executives.
O'Connor also targeted female celebrities, gaining access to their Snapchat accounts and threatening to release nude photos. Before his arrest, victims of such attacks were often unprotected due to a lack of coordinated law enforcement efforts and awareness.
O'Connor was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $794,012.64 in forfeiture. The case serves as a reminder to minimize reliance on mobile phone companies for securing online identity and to use more secure multi-factor authentication options. It also highlights the importance of coordinated law enforcement efforts and public awareness in combating cybercrimes.
