IMPERIAL BEACH, Calif. (KGTV) - An 18-year-old Imperial Beach man once dubbed the "world's youngest hacker" has been arrested on suspicion of drawing hate symbols and antisemitic tagging in an Imperial Beach neighborhood.
Deputies say Kristoffer von Hassel was arrested around 3 a.m. in an alley near the vandalism. Sheriff's deputies arrested him on suspicion of drawing hate symbols and antisemitic graffiti, including two incidents at the home of Sandy and Bryan Brillhart over the span of a week. The tagging was scrawled in what appeared to be black permanent marker.
Sandy Brillhart described the impact the incidents have had on her.
"I've had trouble sleeping. Every little noise, I’m worried someone is lurking," Brillhart said.
Investigators say surveillance video helped them identify a suspect.
Von Hassel first made headlines more than 12 years ago, in 2014, when, at 5 years old, he discovered a back door into his father's Xbox Live account by typing in space keys and hitting enter. His family reported the bug to Microsoft, which developed a patch and acknowledged von Hassel on its website. One publication dubbed him the "world's youngest hacker."
His father spoke about the discovery at the time.
"Just being 5 years old and being able to find a vulnerability and latch onto that, I thought it was pretty cool,” Robert said.
Von Hassel, who just graduated from high school, is described by his parents as an avid gamer. I spoke with von Hassel's parents by phone. They denied any wrongdoing by their son and contend that "neither he nor they hold hateful or anti-semitic beliefs."
His parents also say they have spoken with their son from jail. According to von Hassel, he was shown surveillance video of a suspect by investigators but claims those images were not him.
Von Hassel is scheduled to be arraigned in a South Bay courtroom Thursday afternoon.
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