Unprecedented Twitter Hack! Affected accounts include Apple, Gates, Obama, Musk

rubicon · 16th July 2020, 04:42

Unprecedented Twitter Hack with Double your Bitcoin offer messages

Affected accounts include : Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Apple, Wiz Khalifa, Jeff Bezos, Mike Bloomberg, Kanye West, Joe Biden, Uber, Warren Buffett and many more.

These "Double your Bitcoin" scams have been on Twitter for years but this is unprecedented with the actual accounts of public figures hijacked and on a large scale. The fact that so many different users have been compromised at the same time implies that this should be a problem with Twitter's platform itself.

But the motive seems to be clear - make as much money as quickly as they can. The hackers would have known that the tweets wouldn't stay up for long so this was the equivalent of a "smash and grab" operation.

Shreyas_H · 16th July 2020, 10:49

This is huge!

I can think of 2 ways this could have happened - many of these celebrities have PR agencies who also have access to tweet on their behalf. Possibly a compromise at that side. Or it could also be that someone gained access to Twitter's own admin panel (which would be accessible only to a few employees)

Either ways, Twitter has a lot of answering to do and a lot of potential lawsuits coming up.

anjan_c2007 · 16th July 2020, 18:23

I too got a similar tweet this morning from the Twitter handle of ex- US President Barack Obama, whom I follow. I dismissed it on face value as a scamster's tweet. It promised to deliver US $ 2000 for a US $ 1000 bitcoin sent to a link.

It appears from newslinks that the fraudsters have amassed a huge sum. The fraudster writes "we are giving back to our community" . The word "our" is replaced by "my" in cases of individuals, whereas it remains 'we" for Apple" and so on.

On the face of it, it can be prima facie dismissed as one from a fraudster. Else, to double a bitcoin in value terms, Mr Barack Obama change his headquarters and has to either operate from Las Vegas or from Wall Street.

Samurai · 24th August 2022, 19:32

Now it finally makes sense...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OD9T5bX2LU

Samurai · 24th August 2022, 23:23

Wow, more details...

This thread was started in July 2020, when Twitter was hacked. So in Nov 2020, Twitter hired Peiter "Mudge" Zatko, to take care of the IT security of Twitter. He was fired early this year, I think because he started pointing out all the security lapses and bad practices that have been institutionalized within Twitter. He rocked the boat and got kicked out.

https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/23/2...er-mudge-zatko

16th July 2020, 04:42	#1
rubicon BHPian Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: chennai Posts: 520 Thanked: 1,254 Times	Unprecedented Twitter Hack! Affected accounts include Apple, Gates, Obama, Musk Unprecedented Twitter Hack with Double your Bitcoin offer messages Affected accounts include : Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Apple, Wiz Khalifa, Jeff Bezos, Mike Bloomberg, Kanye West, Joe Biden, Uber, Warren Buffett and many more. These "Double your Bitcoin" scams have been on Twitter for years but this is unprecedented with the actual accounts of public figures hijacked and on a large scale. The fact that so many different users have been compromised at the same time implies that this should be a problem with Twitter's platform itself. But the motive seems to be clear - make as much money as quickly as they can. The hackers would have known that the tweets wouldn't stay up for long so this was the equivalent of a "smash and grab" operation. Attached Images
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16th July 2020, 10:49	#2
Shreyas_H BHPian Join Date: Feb 2019 Location: Mumbai Posts: 359 Thanked: 1,789 Times	Re: Unprecedented Twitter Hack! Affected accounts include Apple, Gates, Obama, Musk This is huge! I can think of 2 ways this could have happened - many of these celebrities have PR agencies who also have access to tweet on their behalf. Possibly a compromise at that side. Or it could also be that someone gained access to Twitter's own admin panel (which would be accessible only to a few employees) Either ways, Twitter has a lot of answering to do and a lot of potential lawsuits coming up.
	(1) Thanks

16th July 2020, 18:23	#3
anjan_c2007 Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: India Posts: 8,706 Thanked: 22,856 Times View My Garage	Re: Unprecedented Twitter Hack! Affected accounts include Apple, Gates, Obama, Musk I too got a similar tweet this morning from the Twitter handle of ex- US President Barack Obama, whom I follow. I dismissed it on face value as a scamster's tweet. It promised to deliver US $ 2000 for a US $ 1000 bitcoin sent to a link. It appears from newslinks that the fraudsters have amassed a huge sum. The fraudster writes "we are giving back to our community" . The word "our" is replaced by "my" in cases of individuals, whereas it remains 'we" for Apple" and so on. On the face of it, it can be prima facie dismissed as one from a fraudster. Else, to double a bitcoin in value terms, Mr Barack Obama change his headquarters and has to either operate from Las Vegas or from Wall Street.
	() Thanks

24th August 2022, 23:23	#5
Samurai Team-BHP Support Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Bangalore/Udupi Posts: 25,997 Thanked: 49,923 Times View My Garage	Re: Unprecedented Twitter Hack! Affected accounts include Apple, Gates, Obama, Musk Wow, more details... This thread was started in July 2020, when Twitter was hacked. So in Nov 2020, Twitter hired Peiter "Mudge" Zatko, to take care of the IT security of Twitter. He was fired early this year, I think because he started pointing out all the security lapses and bad practices that have been institutionalized within Twitter. He rocked the boat and got kicked out. https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/23/2...er-mudge-zatko
	() Thanks