Anonymous-Linked Hacktivist Aubrey Cottle Jailed Over Texas GOP Cyberattack
Anonymous-Linked Hacktivist Aubrey Cottle Jailed Over Texas GOP Cyberattack 🚨
Aubrey Cottle, an Anonymous-linked hacker from Oshawa, has been sentenced to 18 months after admitting his involvement in a 2021 website defacement attack on the Republican Party of Texas (GOP). The sentencing was delivered by Justice Joseph Di Luca in a Newmarket courtroom. Cottle will remain in custody for another 175 days (nearly six months) because he has already spent the rest waiting for his trial.
Last week, he pleaded guilty to three charges, including damaging data, illegally accessing computer services, and breaking bail rules by using the internet without supervision.
On September 11, 2021, hackers from the Anonymous collective attacked a US-based firm called Epik, which hosted the Texas Republicans’ website. Cottle changed the homepage to display cartoon characters, a music video, and adult images, protesting against a Texas abortion law. He also stole 180 gigabytes of files containing private details about staff and donors, sharing them on social media and taking credit on TikTok.
Before his arrest, Cottle worked legally as a security researcher and was part of the research team at Sakura Samurai. His work included discovering a software bug in the chat app Keybase and exposing the personal data of 100,000 United Nations employees. However, his actions turned illegal later that year. In a 2025 press release, federal officials announced they had unsealed criminal charges against him for the Texas attack. If extradited to the US, Cottle could face an additional five years in prison. His lawyers have opposed extradition, arguing that a person shouldn’t be tried twice for the same actions.
The 39-year-old hacker expressed a desire to change his life, stating his crimes were “a waste of my gifts, intellect, and talents,” and plans to finish his university degree and open a security company.