Official Twitter Accounts Hacked in Scam Targeting
Hackers find ways to gain access to personal accounts using various methods. Since the start of 2020 up until this month, there have been over a million AUD stolen by hackers. Hacking has been one of the most notorious cybercrimes in the past few years. In fact, recently, there has been a significant security hack that impacted official Twitter accounts of well-known personalities such as Kim Kardashian-West, former US President Barack Obama, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, and more. The same scammers also hacked cryptocurrency Twitter accounts to spread a fake link, which has since been taken down.
Twitter admitted to this security incident, explaining that the attackers managed to hack the accounts of some of their employees. These scammers then used the stolen credentials to access Twitter’s internal systems, including the two-factor protections. Twitter has taken necessary action since becoming aware of the attack including preventing hackers from tweeting or changing passwords of the account they hacked. It is expected that this will prevent the hackers from spreading scams.
Scams continue to become more sophisticated in their methods of attempting to steal personal and financial information.
Ensure that your online information is still safe by using these best practices:
- Read and understand social media privacy options. Ensure that you understand the privacy options on any social media accounts you hold. Whatever you choose to share on social media platform will be available to that platform’s company and you have very limited control over who has access to the information you share.
- Restrict personal information you share on social media. Avoid posting your home or work address, phone numbers, and other personal information that could be used to target you.
- Turn off the locator before you post. Make sure to avoid sharing your location by checking if your GPS is closed before you post anything.
- Don’t click suspicious links. If anybody sends you any links or attachments via direct or private messages, don’t click it right away as it may contain malware or other viruses. Immediately delete the email and report it to Scamwatch or the organisation/personality it is imitating.
- Ensure your device is updated to the latest OS. Software updates usually provide the latest security protection for your devices, so it is best to update your operating system when new updates are available.
- Check mobile app permissions. Always check app permissions, the pop up notifications that ask for your permission to use your audio, camera, or other personal information you might share. Make sure your security settings are updated as well.
- Install security software for your device. To ensure protection for your device, get the best security software. Trend Micro Premium Security Suite is a complete security solution. It has ID Security to monitor if your personal information is going around the Dark Web, and it also has Password Manager which will secure all your passwords all in one place.
Always practice these tips to keep your personal information and your devices secure from hacks. If you or someone you know has experienced being hacked or potentially hacked this can be reported to Scamwatch. If this has happened on Twitter, you can go here to report it.
