The accounts of many high profile Twitter users including Bill Gates, Elton Musk, Wiz Khalifa, Kim Kardashian West and Barack Obama as well as corporate accounts for Apple and Uber were attacked on Twitter’s back end. The attack began around 3 pm (ET), and first targeted accounts @bitcoin, @ripple, @coindesk, @coinbase and @binance.
“This is 100 per cent unprecedented, ” said Satnam Narang, staff researcher.
Twitter conceded this incident in a tweet stating: “We are aware of a security incident impacting accounts on Twitter. We are investigating and taking steps to fix it. We will update everyone shortly.” The Twitter Support team added, “you may be unable to Tweet or reset your password while we review and address this incident.”
Tweets from the hijacked accounts promoted an advance free cryptocurrency scam, promising to double the price of Bitcoin currency sent to one specific wallet. The tweets sent from those seized accounts instructed followers of those cryptocurrency accounts to visit the website CryptoForHeath. Over $50,000 has been obtained by the Bitcoin address captioned on the CryptoForHealth website and in Elin and Bill Gates tweets.
“We have partnered with CryptoForHealth and are giving back 500 BTC to the community, ” read a tweet linked to a Bitcoin wallet address.
Twitter “locked down” it's verified accounts and actions were made by digital currency exchange Coinbase, to prevent users from sending money to the Bitcoin address. Twitter shares declined 3.8% after the market closed.
This situation is entirely different as it was not a single account being compromised rather a massive hijacking of Twitter accounts at the same time. Apple is well known for its robust security system and fell victim to the scheme.
“Very likely due to something as simple as [a Twitter employee] falling victim to a phishing attack - that then allowed a single bad actor or group board access into these accounts from the inside. Other platforms should take this as a significant learning experience to ensure a breach to this magnitude doesn't happen again, ” reported Kelvin Coleman, executive director at National Cybersecurity Alliance.
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