A 17-year-old from Florida has been named as the mastermind behind the mid-July Twitter hack that saw several high-profile accounts – including those of Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Apple, and Bill Gates – hijacked in a scam spruiking a bitcoin.

The hack marked the biggest security and privacy breach in Twitter’s history.

Alongside the Florida teen, a 19-year-old in the UK and a 22-year-olld in Orland have been arrested for their part in the hacking.

The 17-year-old is reportedly being charged as an adult. “This was not an ordinary 17-year-old,” the State Attorney said at the press conference.

“This could have had a massive, massive amount of money stolen from people, it could have destabilised financial markets within America and across the globe; because he had access to powerful politicians’ Twitter accounts, he could have undermined politics as well as international diplomacy.”