In an instant: Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Kanye West, Floyd Mayweather, Bill Gates and Elon Musk all solicited their Twitter followers to send them Bitcoin, and in exchange they’d send them twice their money back.
It was a scam.
Twitter tried to shut down the messages, only to see them pop up again. Eventually, the company disabled millions of verified accounts as it worked to regain control. While people online mocked the request for Bitcoin and vanishing accounts, for cybersecurity experts, the hack exposes serious vulnerabilities.
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“We should be concerned about the security measures put in place by these social media platforms to ensure that these accounts can’t be compromised,” said Quentin Rhoads-Herrera, the director of professional services at cybersecurity firm Critical Start. “We need to expect and demand that the security that these companies are running is up to par.”
In the case of the Twitter attack, hackers gained access to the accounts of employees who had access to internal systems, allowing them to hijack such a wide range of accounts.
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“This isn’t a new concept, it’s a running concept that all social media companies have, they have admin panels that give elevated access to employees,” Rhoads-Herrera said.
While only a small fraction of the population is on Twitter, compared to other platforms like Facebook and Instagram, the reach of the social media site is expansive, with tweets from celebrities, politicians, and governmental agencies bleeding into other media.
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“People in power should not be using social media as a way of dictating policy,” said Rhoads-Herrera, pointing out that a hacked tweet from someone like President Trump could have immediate impacts on foreign policy, domestic policy, or the economy.
Cox Media Group
