(ANSA) - MADRID, JULY 22 - A Spanish judge has ordered preventive custody for a young man arrested in the Iberian country on charges of having carried out cyber attacks on dozens of VIP Twitter profiles, including those of the current president of the United States Joe Biden and his predecessor Barack Obama. The news agency Efe reports. The arrest of the alleged hacker, a 22-year-old British national, was reported by the Spanish police and the United States Department of Justice. The operation with which he was captured was carried out in collaboration with the FBI.
The accounts involved - including that of BillGates and other VIPs - were hacked on July 15, 2020, as part of what appeared to be a maxi Bitcoin scam. At the time, Biden was running for the US Democratic Party primary for presidential elections. There were tweets from the profiles that promised to double the amount sent to their Bitcoin addresses. Twitter then intervened in the following hours to restore normalcy.
The Spanish judicial authority is now awaiting the go ahead from the United States for the extradition of the suspect.
In the US, an 18-year-old from Florida pleaded guilty to participating in the attack and was sentenced to three years, according to US media. (HANDLE).