ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Andrew Otto Boggs, aka “INCURSIO,” 22, of North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, and Justin Gray Liverman, aka “D3F4ULT,” 24, of Morehead City, North Carolina, were arrested today on charges related to their alleged roles in the computer hacking of several senior U.S. government officials and U.S. government computer systems.
According to charging documents filed with the court, Boggs and Liverman conspired with members of a hacking group that called itself “Crackas With Attitude.” From about October 2015 to February 2016, the group used “social engineering” hacking techniques, including victim impersonation, to gain unlawful access to the personal online accounts of senior U.S. government officials, their families, and several U.S. government computer systems. In some instances, members of the conspiracy uploaded private information that they obtained from victims’ personal accounts to public websites; made harassing phone calls to victims and their family members; and defaced victims’ social media accounts. At least three other members of the conspiracy are located in the United Kingdom and are being investigated by the Crown Prosecution Service.
Boggs and Liverman will have their initial appearances at the federal courthouse in Alexandria next week in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Theresa Carroll Buchanan.
Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Virginia
DataBreaches.net has previously reported on some of CWA’s claimed hacks and data releases, including hacks of CIA Director John Brennan’s personal AOL account and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper’s FIOS account, as well as hacks of other government officials and a government portal. Details of alleged crimes as well as the members’ massive OpSec failures are contained in the affidavit filed with the federal court.
The latest arrests come 8 months after some alleged members of the group were arrested in the U.K. As I reported for the Daily Dot in May after “Derp” gave me an exclusive interview:
The arrests of CWA members seemed to come as rapid-fire as their announcements of their hacks. On Jan. 25, British police arrested Derp, known on Twitter as @derplaughing. His arrest seems to have flown under the media radar until a second 16-year-old, “Cracka,” was arrested in the U.K. on Feb. 9. One week later, a 15-year-old teen in Scotland known as “Cubed” was also arrested.