An 18-year-old Imperial Beach man who once drew international headlines as the “world’s youngest hacker” for figuring out how to access his father’s Xbox One gaming system has been arrested on suspicion of drawing hate symbols and antisemitic graffiti in two separate instances earlier this month in Imperial Beach.
Sheriff’s deputies arrested Kristoffer von Hassel early Tuesday on charges including vandalism and damage to property motivated by civil rights violations. Jail records showed he remained in custody Tuesday evening on six felony charges and six misdemeanors.
In a phone interview Tuesday evening, his parents denied any wrongdoing by their son and said that neither he nor they harbor any hateful or antisemitic beliefs. The parents said they had not yet hired an attorney to represent their son.
“We’ll be fighting this case,” his mother said. She provided only her first name and asked not to be named, citing concerns the entire family would be targeted because of the allegations against her son. “We’re concerned how this will impact his future,” she added.
Von Hassel was arrested around 3 a.m. in an alley near where the alleged vandalism occurred. His mother said he often rode his bike around the neighborhood at that time of the morning. Von Hassel’s father said his son would have been smart enough not to “do anything stupid” in the same neighborhood where the family lives.
The Sheriff’s Office received a report on Sept. 13 that two Imperial Beach homes — on Elm Avenue and Seacoast Drive — were vandalized with graffiti scrawled in what appeared to be black permanent marker. According to sheriff’s Lt. Christopher Galve, the Elm site had a hate symbol and antisemitic writing, and “similar graffiti” was found on a window of the other home.
Six days later, on Saturday, the Elm Avenue home was hit again, this time on the garage door. Deputies allegedly found more vandalized areas in the alley behind the home.
Galve said the Sheriff’s Office increased patrols in the neighborhood and called in its Criminal Intelligence Unit because of the possible hate-crime connection. He said nearby surveillance video helped investigators identify a possible suspect.
Deputies conducting extra patrol in a dark alley near one of the vandalized homes came across von Hassel, who allegedly matched the description of the vandalism suspect, Galve said.
“He’s never gotten in trouble like this before,” von Hassel’s father said. “Just look what he did with Microsoft when he was 5.”
According to news reports from 2014, von Hassel had a knack for electronics at a young age, and when he was 5, he began gaining unauthorized access to his father’s Xbox One account. He later showed his parents that when he typed in the wrong password, it took him to a password verification screen, and from there, he only needed to hit the space key several times and then press enter to be able to log in.
The family reported the bug to Microsoft, and the company fixed the vulnerability. It also added his name on its website to a list of security researchers who had helped Microsoft over the years with online security.
A 2016 Christian Science Monitor story at the time called him the “world’s youngest hacker.”
Galve said that when von Hassel was arrested, he had with him “a handheld electronic device capable of interacting with and analyzing certain wireless signals, including those used by some garage doors, gates and other access systems.”
Galve did not indicate that the device had been used in connection with the suspected vandalism.
Von Hassel’s mother identified the device as a Flipper Zero. The company that makes that device advertises it as “a portable multi-tool for pentesters and geeks” that can be used for “hacking digital stuff, such as radio protocols, access control systems, hardware, and more.”
Von Hassel’s mother said her son used his Flipper Zero to open the family’s garage door and access their home wifi network. She said any suggestion that it was used for nefarious purposes was wrong.
Staff writer Teri Figueroa contributed to this report.