Popular social media platform Twitter was hit by a massive cyberattack on Wednesday, which resulted in several high-profile personalities being compromised. The list of hacked users includes Bill Gates, Joe Biden, and Barack Obama, as well as massive companies such as Apple Inc.
Massive Twitter cyber-breach
According to The Wall Street Journal, experts are calling the breach the most significant cybercrime that Twitter has experienced and began past 4:00 in the afternoon EDT. The attack hijacked multiple accounts, most of which were related to Bitcoin, a type of cryptocurrency, and began to post tweets saying they would double any amount that was sent to them.
The messages quickly went viral and spread to other, more prominent accounts. Thousands of users shared and reacted to the post before the social media platform took them down temporarily. The stop-gap was ineffective as accounts that were closed were able to post once again shortly after.
Around 5:45 pm EDT, Twitter's security account posted a tweet stating the company was looking into the incident and taking appropriate measures to handle it. The following half-hour, Twitter limited the posts of several accounts with blue checkmarks that signified verified accounts.
The investigation continued into the night, and at 7:18 pm the security account announced it was still limiting several accounts from posting as it continued its investigations of the case.
On Wednesday, Jack Dorsey, Twitter's Chief Executive, expressed his grief and his team's apparent disappointment in a twitter post. The official also said the company was continuing to pursue the investigation and would share any information once the security team knows more.
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The extent of the attack and the focus on prominent and verified accounts puts into question Twitter's attempts at ensuring its safe and secure social media platform continues to provide expansive and robust security.
The accounts that called for the cryptocurrency and financial donations were able to receive more than $100,000, as seen through blockchain records available to the public, as reported by BBC.
Security system in doubt
Last year, Dorsey also had his account compromised, but the social media platform had since announced it had taken steps to ensure the security of his account from future attempts of cyberattacks.
The field office of the San Francisco branch of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued a statement on Wednesday revealing details on the cyber attack. The statement wrote that the attackers conducted the breach in order to manage a cryptocurrency fraud.
The office announced its warnings to the public to remain vigilant and take care not to fall victim to these sorts of scams.
According to CNN, three hours after the initial post by Twitter's security account, the majority of the accounts that it took down or limited posts of have been returned to full functionality at around 8:30 pm EDT.
The post wrote that the reinstated accounts were able to posts tweets again and noted that as investigations continue, the accounts' functionalities may be susceptible to being closed and open at unexpected frequencies.
