Canadian hacker sentenced for Texas Republican Party website defacement

As detailed in HackRead, Aubrey Cottle, a hacker linked to Anonymous, has been sentenced to 18 months in jail for his role in a 2021 website defacement attack against the Republican Party of Texas. The sentencing took place on Friday in a Newmarket courtroom, with Justice Joseph Di Luca presiding.

The attack, which occurred on September 11, 2021, targeted the Texas Republican Party's website, hosted by Epik. Cottle defaced the site, displaying cartoon characters, adult images, and a music video in protest of a Texas abortion law. He also exfiltrated 180 gigabytes of data, including sensitive information about staff and donors, which he then shared online.

Cottle pleaded guilty to three charges: damaging data, illegally obtaining computer services, and violating bail conditions by using the internet unsupervised. He has already served 175 days of his sentence. Cottle faces potential further legal trouble in the United States, with federal officials having unsealed criminal charges against him for the Texas attack. If extradited, he could face an additional five years in prison, though his legal team is opposing extradition, arguing against double jeopardy.

Source: HackRead