The Twitter Hack – The Latest News And How It Happened

How did a tech giant like Twitter get hacked?

Twitter was hacked on July 15th 2020. Notable figures like Kanye West, Bill Gates, Elon Musk and Joe Biden had their accounts compromised. The hacker posted from these notable accounts with a similar statement: Send Bitcoin and your idol will send you some back.

The offer was a scam made by hackers who had gained access to notable figure's accounts. So how did this happen to Twitter?

While the updates are still coming in on Twitter’s handle on the problem, the first reports are that Twitter’s internal systems were compromised through an advanced social engineering attack. The company is working hard to gain control over their systems, and in the meantime has reduced some functionality of Twitter as they investigate the problem.

So, what are social engineering attacks?

A social engineering attack is one of the most powerful and effective ways that hackers can gain personal information. An attacker can use a small amount of information about a company or an individual to convince someone to give up a password or other vital information. When an internal system at a company is compromised, this makes it even easier for the hacker to get the information they want. Who would question someone sending you a message on your company’s internal messaging system?

Social engineering can sound scary—but with the proper tools you can be prepared to evaluate requests you receive as an employee and as an individual to protect yourself and your company. Here are some quick tips on how to protect yourself and your company so you can reduce the risk that you will have an issue like Twitter:

• Make sure that your company has a cyber security training program that educates employees on the types of attacks you may fall victim to. As an individual, there are resources online that can help you learn how to protect you and your family.
• Carefully evaluate phone calls and emails you receive. If the request isn’t familiar to you or if they are asking for your username and password, it likely isn’t legitimate. Check to make sure the person contacting you actually works for the company they say they do.
• Avoid giving up sensitive information like your password or account access via email. It’s always safer to take a little longer to verify the identity of a person and check that they really made a request.

While it isn’t possible to completely eliminate the risk, being aware of how scammers may try to get a foothold into your information helps protect you.

Is my Twitter account safe?

We will continue to update this post as we learn more. For the time being, the information indicates that it likely was a flaw in Twitter’s system that was taken advantage of. That means that the passwords of users are likely safe. However, at IDShield we recommend you change your passwords frequently. A breach like this indicates a good time to evaluate your presence on Twitter and re-secure your account.

Many large platforms like Twitter will experience at least one or two data breaches in their time. Informed consumers like yourself can make sure these breeches don't hurt your well-being by proactively monitoring your accounts and creating strong passwords and security.

If you’re concerned about your information and presence online and want to monitor it more closely with alerts catered to protecting you and your information, IDShield can help with our identity protection software.

How can IDShield help protect your online privacy?

IDShield gives you a comprehensive place to monitor your online accounts and your personal information. You can check if your email has been compromised with our dark web surveillance tool, monitor your social media presence for unwanted information, and keep track of your credit score all in one platform. We offer unlimited consulting with fraud experts and unlimited identity restoration should your identity be stolen.

‍

‍IDShield is a product of Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. d/b/a LegalShield (“LegalShield”). LegalShield provides access to identity theft protection and restoration services. IDShield plans are available at individual or family rates. For complete terms, coverage and conditions, please see an identity theft plan. All Licensed Private Investigators are licensed in the state of Oklahoma. This is meant to provide general information and is not intended to provide legal advice, render an opinion, or provide any specific recommendations.