Twitter Admits Embarrassment After Massive Bitcoin Scam Hits 130 Accounts
Twitter reveals that a major cyberattack compromises 130 accounts and exposes private data from up to eight users. The company attributes the breach to a coordinated social engineering attack that hijacked high-profile accounts to promote a Bitcoin scam.
Twitter admits embarrassment after a massive cybersecurity breach compromises 130 accounts and targets prominent figures like Joe Biden, Barack Obama, and Elon Musk. The attackers hijack these high-profile accounts to post a Bitcoin scam that promises to double followers' money, successfully co-opting major companies like Apple and Uber in the process.
The social media company reports that the perpetrators download personal data from up to eight of the compromised accounts, though officials clarify that none of these eight are verified accounts belonging to public figures. Twitter assures the vast majority of its users that attackers do not see their private information, but acknowledges that hackers access email addresses, phone numbers, and other additional details for a small group of people.
Investigations reveal that the attackers successfully manipulate a small number of employees to execute this coordinated social engineering attack. Twitter responds by removing the fraudulent posts and temporarily blocking all verified accounts from tweeting or resetting their passwords while the platform secures its internal systems.