weev

Andrew Alan Escher Auernheimer (/ˈɔːrənhaɪmər/ OR-ən-hy-mər; born 1985 (1985)), best known by his pseudonym weev, is an American computer hacker and professional Internet troll. Affiliated with the alt-right, the Southern Poverty Law Center has described him as being a neo-Nazi, white supremacist, and antisemitic conspiracy theorist. He has used many aliases when he has contacted the media, but most sources state that his real first name is Andrew.

As a member of the hacker group Goatse Security, Auernheimer exposed a flaw in AT&T's security that compromised the e-mail addresses of iPad users. When it revealed the flaw to the media, the group also exposed the personal data of over 100,000 people, which led to a criminal investigation and an indictment for identity fraud and conspiracy. Auernheimer was sentenced to serve 41 months in a federal prison, of which he served approximately 13 months before his conviction was vacated by a higher court.

In 2016, Auernheimer was responsible for sending thousands of white-supremacist flyers to unsecured web-connected printers at multiple universities and other locations in the U.S. Since his release from prison, he has lived in several countries in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. In 2016, he told an interviewer that he was living in Kharkiv. In 2017, it was reported that he was acting as webmaster for the neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer. The Southern Poverty Law Center describes him as "a neo-Nazi white supremacist" known for "extremely violent rhetoric advocating genocide of non-whites".