FBI Nabs 2 Hackers in Crackas With Attitude Cyber Plot on U.S. Officials

Andrew Otto Boggs, 22, and Justin Gray Liverman, 24, both from North Carolina, face federal charges for infiltrating internet accounts of high-ranking U.S. officials and government systems. Arrested Thursday, the suspects allegedly belonged to Crackas With Attitude, a hacking collective that targeted accounts via AOL, Comcast and Verizon using 'victim impersonation' tactics—tricking providers with stolen Social Security numbers and addresses.[1] They gained login credentials by posing as officials or employees, including a call to the Justice Department's help desk.[1] From October 2015 to February 2016, the hackers stole personal details, defaced social media profiles and harassed victims and families by phone. Believed targets included CIA Director John Brennan among five unnamed officials. In February, they dumped contact information for 29,000 FBI and Department of Homeland Security personnel on Twitter.[1] The scheme extended to breaching the DOJ management system and other sites, amplifying the group's disruptive reach. Three additional teenage suspects—two aged 17 and one 15—from the U.K. remain under investigation by local authorities.[1] Boggs and Liverman are set to appear in federal court in Virginia next week.[1] This case revives concerns over digital threats to U.S. infrastructure, echoing recent incidents like a suspected Chinese hack of the FBI's surveillance system in February 2026, discovered after irregular network activity tied to a vendor ISP. That breach hit tools for wiretaps and intelligence collection, though unrelated to Iranian-linked attacks on FBI Director Kash Patel's emails.[2][3] Past breaches, such as the 2020 SolarWinds attack attributed to Russia's SVR, exposed thousands of federal systems for months, prompting emergency directives and high-level White House meetings.[4] The Crackas arrests highlight how even non-state actors can exploit human error for major leaks.