Teenage alleged hacker 'Cracka' arrested by UK police for CIA, FBI data breaches
A 16-year-old has been arrested on suspicion of being "Cracka," the hacker believed to have broken into the CIA Director's email account and publicly releasing data belonging to FBI and Homeland Security agents.
In a statement released by the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit (SEROCU), the UK agency said a 16-year-old boy was arrested on February 9 in the East Midlands on suspicion of "conspiracy to commit unauthorised access to computer material contrary to Section 1 Computer Misuse Act 1990," which can cover breaking into networks, as well as the theft of sensitive data belonging to the enterprise or government agencies, among others.
SEROCU said the suspect has also been arrested on "conspiracy to commit unauthorised access with intent to commit further offences contrary to Section 2 Computer Misuse Act 1990 and conspiracy to commit unauthorised acts with intent to impair, or with recklessness as to impairing operation of a computer contrary to Section 3 Computer Misuse Act 1990."
Cracka hit the media headlines in 2015 as the leader of the hacktivist group Cracka With Attitude (CWA), having breached the AOL email account of CIA Director John Brennan, which was unwisely used as a repository for sensitive US government intelligence projects.
Security
The CWA said social engineering techniques were used to break into the account.
It has been reported that not only has the personal email account of the CIA Director been compromised, but sensitive data belonging to up to 31,000 FBI, Homeland Security and Department of Justice (DoJ) agents was released publicly via Twitter.
In January, the hacker also took responsibility for breaking into the personal email accounts of the US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and his wife. The director's home telephone, Internet services and email accounts were compromised, leading to the reroute of calls intended for Clapper to the Free Palestine Movement, of which many of the hacks conducted by the CWA are linked to through support.
The Free Palestine Movement is pushing for changes on trade and travel restrictions imposed on Palestine by international players, and in particular, Israel.
See also: WikiLeaks posts data from CIA director's email account
While no more information on the arrest has been revealed, an associated of Cracka with the alias "Cubed" told the Daily Dot that Cracka has been released on "unconditional" bail.
The arrested teenager accused of being Cracka reached out to Motherboard, denying he was the hacker in question and claiming that UK and US agents were trying to "ruin his life." However, the teenager also said:
"I'm innocent until proven guilty so have nothing to worry about."
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