Hacking of celebs' Twitter handles: 'Mastermind' US teen, 2 others charged

Twitter said the hackers behind the attack on accounts of public figures used telephone phishing to break into the system

Three people were charged on Friday (local time) for their alleged involvement in a massive hack on Twitter earlier this month which saw accounts of several prominent personalities getting hacked.

The individuals included Mason Sheppard, a 19-year-old from the United Kingdom who went by the moniker "Chaewon" online, Nima Fazeli, a 22-year-old from Orlando, Florida who went by the alias "Rolex," as well as a minor, CNN reported citing a statement from United States Attorney David Anderson.

The minor, 17-year-old was arrested on Friday morning in Tampa after an investigation conducted by federal and state investigators. According to the report, the statement alleged he was in fact the "mastermind".

Meanwhile, the FBI said two people charged in the attack had been taken into custody.

Twitter on Friday said the hackers behind the attack on accounts of public figures used telephone phishing to break into the system.

"The social engineering that occurred on July 15, 2020, targeted a small number of employees through a phone spear-phishing attack," the social media company said on its blog.

Earlier, Twitter announced the strengthening of security measures during the investigation of the hacker attack, significantly restricting access to its internal systems.

Among the victims of the hack were former US Vice-President Joe Biden, Former President Barack Obama, Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk, billionaires Bill Gates, Michael Bloomberg and Warren Buffett, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, rapper Kanye West, many others. The hackers used the account to call on followers to send money to a bitcoin account.