Twitter Breached: Here’s What You Need To Know

On July 15th, a huge number of high-profile accounts on Twitter were accessed illegally by malicious actors, who used that access to advertise a bitcoin cryptocurrency scam, similar to that of a wire fraud scam. Affected users included high profile individuals such as Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Warren Buffet, and many others. Twitter reacted quickly and removed the offending posts, but the aftermath of the attack has left people with many questions. Here are some of FrameWork's recommendations on how to respond to this evolving situation:

  1. Be wary of any direct messages that you receive from companies or high profile individuals. Companies like Microsoft or Apple would never message you directly, and they are never going to ask you for your password. Now, more than ever, be suspicious of the messages you receive on Twitter.
  2. While it appears that they only accessed certain Twitter accounts, there is no way to be sure. If you have reused the password for your Twitter account anywhere else, you should change it in those places to ensure that your accounts remain secure.
  3. The motives of the attack appear to be financial in nature, but it is entirely possible that there will be other consequences that we are not yet aware of. Always question the things that you see online, and if you ever need an extra set of eyes, give FrameWork a call and we would be happy to assist.

If you want some more information about the hack, check out this article from NPR.