Canadian authorities have arrested Aubrey Cottle, a 37-year-old from Oshawa, Ontario, in connection with the 2021 cyberattack on the Texas Republican Party's website.
Cottle, known online as "Kirtaner", is accused of breaching a third-party web hosting provider’s systems, defacing the Texas GOP’s official website, and stealing a server backup containing sensitive data, including personally identifiable information (PII). That stolen data was later leaked online, and Cottle openly claimed responsibility on various social media platforms.
Court records show the Federal Bureau of Investigation worked with the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), Canada, to execute a search warrant at Cottle’s residence, where they seized approximately 20 terabytes of data.
A criminal complaint unsealed by the U.S. Department of Justice charges Cottle with unlawful possession and transfer of identification information with intent to commit a crime. If convicted, he faces a maximum of 5 years in prison. The case is being handled by the FBI Austin Cyber Task Force with support from Canadian law enforcement.
Cottle has long been linked to the Anonymous hacktivist collective and previously boasted of involvement in cyberattacks targeting right-wing platforms and crowdfunding services.
This arrest reflects growing international collaboration to combat politically motivated cyberattacks and cross-border data theft.
