The Christian crowdfunding website GiveSendGo says it is asking the Department of Justice (DOJ) to charge Aubrey “Kirtaner” Cottle, the hacker arrested last week for the 2021 breach of the Texas GOP website, for an attack on their website as well.
The DOJ announced on Friday that Cottle, a 37-year-old Canadian known for his roots in the Anonymous hacktivist collective, had been charged for defacing and downloading “a backup of Texas Republican Party’s web server, which contained personal identifying information.”
Cottle, who confirmed to the Daily Dot that he was out on bail, could face up to five years if convicted. The DOJ stated that Cottle was able to gain access to the server due to a separate breach that month of Epik, the Texas GOP’s web host and domain registrar.
The charging documents state that Cottle took credit on social media for the Texas GOP breach and the hack of Epik.
In a statement to the Daily Dot, GiveSendGo argued that charges should be brought against Cottle for the February 2022 breach of their website, given that Cottle reportedly took credit for it at the same time as the others.
“We launched our own internal investigation into the incident and into Mr. Cottle, who publicly claimed responsibility for the hack,” the company said. “We promptly shared our findings with both the Department of Justice and the Secret Service during the Biden administration, providing them with all the evidence and data we had available to support their investigation.”
Yet despite their effort, GiveSendGo said they “did not receive any substantive updates or indications of progress from federal authorities at that time.”
Now, with Cottle’s charged in the Texas GOP incident, and with President Donald Trump back in office, GiveSendGo believes their efforts could pay off.
“We are currently seeking to engage with the prosecution to explore the possibility of including additional charges related to the breach of our platform and remain committed to cooperating fully with law enforcement throughout this process,” the company added.
GiveSendGo’s security woes began in April 2021 when internal company data, including the identities of donors, was leaked to the journalism collective Distributed Denial of Secrets (DDoSecrets).
In February 2022, GiveSendGo became a target for hosting Canada’s Freedom Convoy, a series of protests over COVID-19 vaccine mandates. The identities of donors were obtained by hackers and given to DDoSecrets, who shared the information with journalists and researchers.
That same month, GiveSendGo’s website was hacked and redirected to givesendgone.wtf, where a manifesto condemning the company for its support of the Freedom Convoy was made over a video of Disney’s Frozen II.
Multiple other data breaches that month also exposed everything from limited credit card information to further information on donors. In the aftermath, GiveSendGo says it has drastically increased its security.
Whether any additional charges will be brought against Cottle remains to be seen.
For now, Cottle says he plans to meet with his legal team “to determine any official press statements” and plans moving forward.
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