The Justice Department unsealed a September 2024 complaint and arrest warrant accusing Cottle of gaining access to the systems of Epik, a third-party hosting company for the websites for the Texas Republican Party and the Texas Right to Life anti-abortion group. Hackers defaced the Texas GOP website and created a now-defunct website hosting decades of information stolen from Epik, arguing they took the action in response to Texas’ newly-instituted abortion law. SCOOP: a group of "hackers on steroids" gained access to a large dataset belonging to Epik, the web host of the Texas GOP website, Texas Right to Life website, and anti-abortion snitch website. In 2022, CNN reported that Cottle showed up to an online press conference about the breach held by Epik CEO Rob Monster, who acknowledged Cottle’s presence in the chat and asked him if he was behind the incident. The criminal complaint, filed in the Western District of Texas, charges Cottle with “unlawfully transferring, possessing, or using a means of identification” in furtherance of a crime. Cottle then allegedly shared the stolen data online and allowed anyone to download it before publicly taking credit for the attack on social media. A Canadian man is facing charges in the U.S. for allegedly hacking into systems used by the Texas Republican Party and stealing sensitive information.
This Cyber News was published on therecord.media. Publication date: Mon, 31 Mar 2025 20:10:06 +0000