According to a federal affidavit filed in support of warrants for their arrest, Boggs and Liverman conspired with members of a hacking group that called itself “Crackas With Attitude”.
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Among the group’s claims is that it hacked into the personal email of CIA Director John Brennan, which members said was done to embarrass him.
Two North Carolina men were arrested on Thursday for allegedly hacking various accounts of federal officials and others in a 2015 spree that included illicit access of law enforcement databases.
In court documents, the Crackas with Attitude are accused of using social engineering techniques – which trick people into clicking on sketchy links or downloading malicious malware instead of hacking them with brute force – on senior government officials and their family members. The members uploaded private information from victims’ personal accounts, made harassing phone calls and defaced social media accounts.
Beginning in October past year, “Crackas with Attitude”, in a series of tweets and online postings, published personal documents and data apparently from the private email or Internet accounts of CIA Director John Brennan, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and, in January, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.
Publishing personal data online is a form of hacker attack known as “Doxing”, and it has been frequently used by hacktivist groups like Anonymous – especially against law enforcement.
Following the attacks, the Federal Bureau of Investigation issued warnings to police and intelligence officials.
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Earlier this year, British authorities arrested a 16-year-old boy who they said used the name “Cracka” to target Brennan and others, the AP reported. That boy and two other United Kingdom teens were named as unindicted co-conspirators on Thursday. Officials declined to elaborate.
