It has been three years since the seismic Twitter hack of 2020 erupted on the digital horizon, ensnaring global tech giants and ordinary users alike. But this year, justice caught up with one of the hackers responsible, Joseph James O'Connor, in a compelling example of how cybercrime carries real-world consequences.
A New York federal court has sentenced O'Connor, 24, a UK citizen infamously known online as "PlugWalkJoe," to five years in prison. The sentence comes after O'Connor pleaded guilty in May to an array of charges, including computer hacking, wire fraud, and cyberstalking.
The digital heist, among the most conspicuous in recent memory, played out like a high-stakes thriller, unfurling in real-time before millions of Twitter users worldwide. And the consequences of O'Connor's actions? Significant enough to make him agree to forfeit a minimum of $794,000 to the victims of his cybercrimes.