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Hacker Who Broke Into Nissan Systems, Tesla Live Cameras Officially Indicted

A grand jury in the Western District of Washington has officially indicted 21-year-old Till Kottmann, a Swiss hacker who has previously managed to break into several high-profile targets, including automakers.
If found guilty, the hacker could spend years in prison 1 photo
Photo: AVAST
Kottmann, whose most recent victim is Verkada, a cloud-based surveillance firm, has been charged with conspiracy, wire fraud, and aggravated identify theft. If found guilty, he could get jail time, since wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud are punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

The 21-year-old hacker linked with a group called Arson Cats, often referred to as APT as well, has allegedly breached into the networks of Nissan, Intel, and several other corporate and government victims in various countries, as per the U.S. Department of Justice.

In some cases, he leaked the stolen data to the web and even claimed credit for the breaches.

While Nissan hasn’t offered any new statement on the hack, Kottmann’s most recent target is Verkada. This company offers cloud-based surveillance services to thousands of organizations, including hospitals, jails, schools, and Tesla’s production factories.

The hacker himself confirmed the breach, which was based on exposed credentials to Verkada’s camera feeds, as Kottmann took to Twitter to publish images showing what he claimed to be a Tesla warehouse in Shanghai.

Ever wondered what a Tesla warehouse looked like?” he tweeted before his account was suspended.

The U.S. DOJ claims Kottmann specifically shared all this information to “recruit others, grow the scheme, and further promote the hacking activity and [his] own reputation in the hacking community.

The Department of Justice, which has also published a list of the hacker’s most recent high-profile target (also included in the press release embedded below), says the FBI worked with authorities in Switzerland to execute search warrants on March 12.

Since 2019, Kottman and coconspirators have hacked dozens of companies and government entities and posted the private victim data of more than 100 entities on the web,” the press statement says.

The hacker, who is still believed to be in Lucerne, hasn’t yet commented on the charges.
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About the author: Bogdan Popa
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Bogdan keeps an eye on how technology is taking over the car world. His long-term goals are buying an 18-wheeler because he needs more space for his kid’s toys, and convincing Google and Apple that Android Auto and CarPlay deserve at least as much attention as their phones.
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