FBI arrests alleged members of Crackas With Attitude for hacking US gov't officials
The FBI has arrested two men believed to be part of the "Crackas With Attitude" group which hit the headlines last year after leaking information on thousands of government officials to the public.
On Thursday, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) revealed the arrest of two alleged members of a hacking group which took responsibility for targeting the communications and online accounts of thousands of US government figures.
The first alleged member of the Crackas With Attitude group is Andrew Otto Boggs, also known as "Incursio," a 22-year-old from North Carolina. The second alleged member of the group to be collared by law enforcement is 24-year-old Justin Gray Liverman, also known as "D3f4ult," who was arrested in Morehead City, North Carolina.
According to court filings, the two alleged hackers conspired with other members of Crackas With Attitude to break into the personal online accounts of US government officials, family members, and a number of US government computer systems. Prosecutors say that social engineering techniques, including phishing campaigns, were employed to impersonate victims and gain access to these accounts.
In some cases, members of Crackas With Attitude then uploaded this information to public forums, harassed both victims and their families through phone calls, and defaced social media accounts belonging to targets.
See also: Hackers who targeted CIA director have breached a police arrest database
The leak, which took place last year, led to the data of approximately 31,000 FBI, Homeland Security, and Department of Justice (DoJ) agents, as well as the personal email accounts of US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and his wife being accessed without permission.
Calls intended for the director were then redirected to the Free Palestine Movement, of which the hacking group's activities have been linked to.
US law enforcement says "at least three" other members of the hacking group are located in the UK and are being investigated by the Crown Prosecution Service. In February, UK police arrested a 16-year-old boy believed to be the leader of Crackas With Attitude.
Boggs and Liverman are due to stand in the federal courthouse in Alexandria next week, where US Magistrate Judge Theresa Carroll Buchanan will be overseeing the case.