‘Cyberterrorist’ boasts about hacking Freedom Convoy fundraiser
A Canadian self-proclaimed ‘cyberterrorist’ boasted in a video this week about hacking fundraising platform GiveSendGo and releasing the details of those who donated to the protesting truckers in Ottawa.
In a live TikTok meltdown, Aubrey ‘Kirtaner’ Cottle bragged about being behind the GiveSendGo hack and other cyberattacks, including those which targeted alternative social networks Gab, Parler, and Truth Social.
“Nothing scares me. Nothing. Yes, I doxed the truckers. I did it, it was me. I hacked GiveSendGo, baby! And I’d do it again! I’d do it a hundred times!” screamed Cottle in the video. “What are you going to do? What are you going to do to me, huh?”
This is Aubrey Cottle. He hacked GiveSendGo and he doesn't care if anyone knows it. He's live on TikTok bragging about doxing and releasing the info that's currently getting thousands of people fired from their jobs for donating to the Freedom Convoy. pic.twitter.com/HJW7BBRc4z
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) February 16, 2022
He went on to admit that he also allegedly hacked alternative social networks Gab and Parler, as well as the website hosting service Epik Hosting, before adding, “I am literally in every mainstream media publication for the things that I do. I’m not an unknown actor!”
I’m literally a famous f**king cyberterrorist and you think that you can scare me?
Cottle appeared to be responding to commenters who accused him of being behind the GiveSendGo hack this month. The hacked data – which included the names, email addresses, and zip codes of everyone who donated to fundraisers for the truckers in Ottawa that have been protesting against Covid-19 restrictions – was offered by the website DDoSecrets to journalists and researchers, who then publicly identified donors.
GiveSendGo has called for an FBI probe into the hack, calling it a “well orchestrated” attack with “strong political motivations behind” it.
“This is illegal, and these people should be going to jail,” said founder Jacob Wells in an interview with Fox News, calling it “surprising that we haven't heard from any investigative services” about an investigation into the matter.
Many people criticized news outlets for revealing the identities of donors, with even Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar weighing in and accusing outlets of trying to get normal people who had made “insignificant” donations “harassed.”
While some social media users questioned the validity of Cottle’s confession, he is indeed a well-known hacker who has repeatedly been cited in the media, including the New York Times, as a hacker “affiliated with Anonymous.” Cottle has also been interviewed by Vice News and appeared last year in a HBO documentary about the conspiracy theory QAnon.
