“Zoombombers” interrupted the bond hearing for the US teenager accused of masterminding a stunning hack of Twitter with loud rap music and a Pornhub video forcing the Judge to suspend the hearing.
International media outlets reported that Judge Christopher Nash was forced to suspend the virtual bond hearing of the 17-year-old accused of being the “mastermind” after several people got into the Zoom meeting posing as CNN and BBC staffers and played loud music and a porn video.
They actually tried to restart the Zoom again, but it just got worse—with trolls impersonating journalists. (Warning: audio here contains racist epithets and profanity) pic.twitter.com/ph614SPLvc
— Jen Wieczner (@jenwieczner) August 5, 2020
The Zoombombed hearing was set to discuss reducing bail terms set for the 17-year-old Tampa resident arrested last Friday over the hack last month of the accounts of major US celebrities.
Bitcoin Hackers accessed dozens of Twitter accounts including that of Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Elon Musk. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey reported that the hackers gained access to the system with an attack that tricked a handful of employees into giving up their credentials.
The hack affected at least 130 accounts, with tweets posted by the usurpers duping people into sending $100,000 in Bitcoin, supposedly in exchange for double the amount sent.
According to independent security journalist and former New York Times reporter Brian Krebs, the judge and his clerks did not set up the meeting in a way that would mute attendees and prevent them from taking over the screen (these are features that can be easily set when one creates a Zoom meeting).
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. My guess is he didn't know he could. This guy's reaction sums it up. pic.twitter.com/Zz9aVc5iIg
— briankrebs (@briankrebs) August 5, 2020
Judge Christopher Nash said next time he’ll require a password. This may not be effective at stopping Zoom bombings though as passwords at least for other hearings are published online. Instead, the court may need to limit Zoom screen sharing to only call administrators.
A spokesperson for the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida declined to comment and said the court was not able to share the video of the hearing.
Judge Christopher Nash ruled against reducing the set bail of $725,000 for the 17-year-old. The teenage hacker was arrested along with two others, aged 19 and 22, one of whom lives in Britain, and was charged with cyber fraud.
https://twitter.com/adamrsweet_/status/1291055725259771904?s=20
