Bail set for Florida teen allegedly behind Twitter hack

The bail has been set for the Florida teen allegedly responsible for the July 15 Twitter breach.

Graham Ivan Clark, 17, of Tampa, was arrested last July 31 on 30 felony charges including organized fraud of over $50,000, 17 counts of communications fraud of over $300, fraudulent use of personal information of over $100,000 on 30 or more victims, 10 counts of fraudulent use of personal information, and access to computer or electronic device without authority, scheme to defraud.

The Tampa Bay Times reported that Clark’s bail was set at $725,000—roughly “six times” of what the teen was accused of stealing via an elaborate scheme involving allegedly manipulating Twitter staff and taking control of the accounts of some prominent figures, which resulted in the suspect reportedly raking in $117,000 worth of BTC.

Clark’s arrest came shortly after Twitter published an announcement regarding how the hack took place. The social media giant said the hackers targeted Twitter employees and was able to gain access to Twitter’s internal network as well as obtain their employee credentials. Afterward, Clark used his recently acquired internal network access and employee credentials to gain access to even more of Twitter’s internal resources and eventually was able to come across the tools that gave him access to every account on the platform.

Clark, who was held in the county jail, appeared via video before County Judge Joelle Ann Ober for his bail hearing. His lawyer disclosed that the teen holds 300 BTC, currently worth about $3.3 million. Prosecutors, however, argued that Clark’s digital currency should not be used for bail because “every penny that this defendant has access to is by ill-gotten gains.”

Federal authorities said Clark faces state charges because he is a juvenile.

In addition, two more individuals have been arrested in connection to the hack. According to Florida Department of Law Enforcement Special Agent Corey Monaghan, “Clark hired 22-year-old Nima Fazeli of Orlando and 19-year-old Mason Sheppard of the United Kingdom “as proxies” to “manipulate” Twitter employees into giving up access to the company’s system.” As a result, both Fazeli and Sheppard will be facing federal charges in the Northern District of California.

At the moment, only these three individuals have been detained and connected to the July 15th Twitter breach. But as the investigation goes on, it would not be surprising if even more individuals are detained and have charges pressed against them—because according to the New York Times, it was a group of individuals that worked together to pull off the Twitter breach.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated.