Twitter Hack Telling Users To Buy Cryptocurrency
Have you been following the recent Twitter hack? The hack stands out as the hackers may have used an unusual tactic. It may also have far-reaching effects. Read to find out more.
If you are reading this article, you want to discover more information on the July 17 Twitter hack. How is it that hackers hacked the Twitter accounts of several prominent personalities? What may the hack mean for cybersecurity in social media platforms?
Social media platforms play a crucial role. People turn to them for information, news, entertainment, and more.
Do you follow well-known people with verified Twitter accounts? You believe that anything they share is the real deal, especially if several verified, prominent accounts share the same thing. The recent Twitter hack jeopardizes this belief.
Alvarez Technology Group seeks to help you discover more details about the Twitter hack. Alvarez Technology Group provides IT support for organizations. This article will help you discover more information about the Twitter hack.
Watch our video to discover more about the recent Twitter hack:
The Twitter Hack
Twitter reported that hackers had hacked about 130 Twitter accounts in a breach on July 17, 2020. The incident led to the hackers tweeting messages from the accounts of some prominent figures.
Some accounts affected are Twitter handles of former President Obama, Elon Musk, and Joe Biden.
The hackers accessed these accounts and sent messages asking people to invest in Bitcoin. They also downloaded the account information and changed passwords for some affected users.
Hackers sent this message via former President Obama’s Twitter account:
“I am giving back to my community due to Covid-19!
All Bitcoin sent to my address below will be sent back doubled. If you send $1,000, I will send back $2,000.”
It also provided the address for the transaction.
The tweet also said that:
“Only doing this for the next 30 minutes! Enjoy.”
The hackers shared similar messages in some other compromised accounts.
Twitter tried to move swiftly to contain the breach and minimize its effects. The platform stopped many verified accounts from tweeting as it investigated the hack. Some account functions and password reset requests were also being denied. Users of the platform could also not tweet Bitcoin wallet addresses for some time. Twitter later allowed the affected users to send tweets, but Twitter announced it was still fixing its platform.
How Hackers May Have Hacked the Twitter Accounts
Investigations are still ongoing. Twitter’s internal security team, the FBI, and Senate’s Commerce Committee are looking into the breach.
Is this hack any different from what we have seen?
The answer is yes. One distinguishing characteristic of this hack is that it affected many notable accounts. Another differentiating factor is how the hackers executed the attack.
Twitter announced that the hack was a coordinated attack targeting its staff with access to internal tools and systems.
Unlike earlier attacks, experts believe hackers did not figure out or access the affected users’ credentials.
Professionals believe hackers accessed the accounts via an employee’s credentials. The hackers may have used social engineering to compromise the staffer. They may have used backend access points that many sites have.
Other sources claim that the hackers may have bribed an employee to get their credentials. The matter is under investigation, and the findings may help us discover the accurate version of events.
Effects of the Twitter Hack
Were the hack’s effects that bad?
The Twitter hack caused many effects.
- The Hack Caused Financial Losses: statistics show that the hackers got $121,000 from 400 transactions by people that believed the tweets had genuine opportunities. The hackers had shared three separate Bitcoin addresses and one for Ripple, which did not receive any transaction. A payment of $42,000 appears to be the largest single transaction.
- The Hack Highlighted a Flaw in Twitter’s Security: the hack raised many questions, primarily as millions of people rely on the platform as a communication tool. Several inquiries started, such as those by the FBI, the Senate’s Commerce Committee, and Twitter’s internal team, to find out the hack’s extent and technique. Twitter needs to answer how hackers hacked accounts of influential people with millions of followers at once.
What Does the Hack Mean?
The hack shows that Twitter is not a foolproof system. Some sources worry that this attack may have been a test run for when the hackers may use compromised accounts to promote a candidate, such as in the upcoming election.
For example, the hackers can use President Trump’s Twitter account to send this tweet:
“Bidden is the better guy.”
Or, they can hack Biden’s Twitter account and tweet:
“Trump is the better guy.”
Don’t these tweets sound absurd? Can you fall for them?
While you may not believe these tweets, they can influence some voters in the upcoming elections. If attackers send them when they know that people will vote before the relevant people communicate their inaccuracy, they may inform some people’s vote.
These compromised tweets would interfere with one of our most fundamental rights — the right to free and fair elections. Misinformation and election interference via hacked social media accounts ahead of the upcoming elections would be a travesty to our democracy.
While Twitter has made commendable efforts towards securing their platform, the recent hack shows they can do more. Other social media platforms need to learn from this experience.
Compromised accounts can also affect other sectors of our lives. They can harm organizations, cause people to take detrimental actions, or spread misinformation.
This hack happened over four years after another significant hack of social media platforms. It shows that we need to prioritize cybersecurity, as people may look for ways to compromise accounts, networks, data.
Social media users also need to use them with caution. They should not follow everything that other users tell them, even if the messages come from notable personalities. Posts by other users are not a bunch of truths, but opinions.
