Published 11:27 IST, July 16th 2020
Twitter Hacked: Netizens roast security system, verified accounts with hilarious memes
Twitter accounts of major world leaders including Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Kanye West, Warren Buffet were hacked in by BitCoin scammers
Twitter accounts of major world leaders including Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Kanye West, Warren Buffet were hacked by BitCoin scammers on July 16. This High profile hack did not only expose the vulnerabilities of the Twitter security system but also fuelled online scepticism and trolling. The event that left the world stunned soon triggered a massive meme riot with netizens hilariously targetting bluetick accounts.
Just before 4:30 PM ET on July 16, the hackers sent in a message from the hacked accounts asking bitcoins from the gullible people. In the message, the hackers gave a cryptic address linked to their BitCoin accounts and enticed people to get double the amount they send. Though, the accounts were locked and tweets removed immediately, hackers, by then, had already earned over 55000 dollars.
Twitter hacked
A series of scam tweets that were launched read, “I‘m feeling greatful, doubling all payments sent to my BTC address.” The tweet also contained a bitcoin address, presumably one associated with the hacker’s crypto wallet.
The hacker group behind this incident has not been revealed yet. However, the official Twitter handle of Twitter posted a message for its users saying, “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.” It also talked about the password setting and wrote, ‘We’re continuing to limit the ability to Tweet, reset your password, and some other account functionalities while we look into this. Thanks for your patience.”
Updated 11:26 IST, July 16th 2020