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Twitter hack court hearing 'zoom bombed' with pornography

Twitter logo - AP
Twitter logo - AP

A judge was forced to suspend a virtual hearing for one of the teenagers accused of hacking Twitter after it was interrupted by pranksters.

Graham Clark, 17, of Florida, who is accused of masterminding the largest hack in Twitter's history, appeared on Zoom on Wednesday to ask a judge to lower his $750,000 (£570,000) bail.

The hearing came to a swift end when Zoom users repeatedly entered the stream on Wednesday, to cause disruption, some playing loud audio and others using Zoom's screen sharing facility to play pornography, a phenomenon known as "zoom bombing".

“How the judge in charge of the proceeding didn't think to enable settings that would prevent people from taking over the screen is beyond me,” said journalist Brian Krebs, who was watching. “My guess is he didn't know he could.”

Mr Clark is accused of orchestrating a sophisticated Bitcoin scam, which involved manipulating Twitter employees into handing over credentials to hijack the accounts of celebrities and politicians.

On July 15, hundreds of accounts including those belonging to Kim Kardashian, Bill Gates and Elon Musk were taken over to convince the public to send money to a Bitcoin wallet. The hackers received $121,000 in the hours it took Twitter to regain control of the platform.

Twitter said that 130 accounts were targeted in the attack, while private account information from a much smaller number was also accessed.

The US Department of Justice charged Mr Clark with 30 counts of fraud for his alleged role, which he denies.

Briton Mason Sheppard, 19, of Bognor Regis is accused of helping Clark and finding buyers for another hacker offering illegal access to Twitter accounts.

He has been charged with the intentional access of a protected computer, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, with a potential penalty of 45 years in prison.