Cybersecurity

Alleged Capital One Hacker Struggled With Jobs, Personal Life

  • Roommates described Paige Thompson as brilliant introvert
  • Names, addresses, Social Security numbers accessed in breach
The home of Paige A. Thompson in the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Seattle, Washington on July 30.Photographer: Spencer Soper/Bloomberg
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She spent her days holed up in a lavender-painted bedroom, playing the video game Counter-Strike and pounding out posts that were variously boastful or tortured on different social-media channels.

Before being charged with a massive hack of Capital One Financial Corporation’s computer network, Paige Thompson, 33, lived with three roommates in a run-down house in the Beacon Hill neighborhood of south Seattle. Her roommates said they met at a support group for transgender people; Thompson identified herself as a transgender woman on Twitter.