Florida teen charged as ‘mastermind’ of Twitter hack

FLORIDA: Florida teenager was arrested early Friday in connection with the recent high-profile hack of 130 Twitter accounts, including the accounts of celebrities like Joe Biden and Elon Musk.
Graham Ivan Clark, 17, was the “mastermind”, state officials said, of a hack that turned into an embarrassment for Twitter. Federal authorities were already tracking Clark before the Twitter hack. In April, the Secret Service seized over $700,000 worth of Bitcoin from him, according to legal documents. The youth faces 30 felony charges, including fraud, and is being charged as an adult.
The Twitter hack began on July 15 as an effort to steal and sell unusual user names. It quickly escalated, as the hackers took over accounts belonging to cryptocurrency firms and celebrities. The scheme netted Bitcoin worth more than $180,000. The hackers tweeted from 45 of the accounts, accessed the direct messages of 36 accounts, and downloaded full details from seven accounts. They gained access to Twitter systems by stealing login details from staff. “We appreciate the swift actions of law enforcement,” a Twitter spokesman said.