After the recent hacking of Twitter accounts of global high-profile users, the Indian government’s cyber security agency CERT-IN has asked the micro-blogging site for full details of global hack, the number of Indian users affected and data impacted, PTI reported, quoting sources privy to the development.
The government has also reportedly asked for details of the modus operandi of the attack and the steps taken by Twitter to lessen the impact of the incident.
While revealing the findings of the investigation conducted on Twitter accounts being hacked, the micro-blogging site, had earlier, said that the attackers manipulated a small number of Twitter employees and used their credentials to access the platform’s internal systems.
The Twitter accounts of some of the United States’ prominent political and business leaders, including Barack Obama, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, were hacked on Wednesday, 15 July, in an apparent effort to promote a Bitcoin scam.
US presidential candidate Joe Biden, Hollywood celebrity Kim Kardashian, rapper Kanye West, Microsoft's Bill Gates, were among those whose accounts were hacked.
The tweets that went out from these accounts promised double money to anyone who was sending funds via Bitcoin within 30 minutes, reported Bloomberg
Twitter Responds
On its official blog, Twitter had explained that as of now, the platform has discovered that the attackers accessed tools that are only available to Twitter’s internal support teams to target 130 Twitter accounts.
“For 45 of those accounts, the attackers were able to initiate a password reset, login to the account, and send Tweets. We are continuing our forensic review of all of the accounts to confirm all actions that may have been taken. In addition, we believe they may have attempted to sell some of the usernames,” the blog added.
The blog further stated that the attackers, for eight Twitter accounts, downloaded the account’s information through platform’s “Your Twitter Data.” Regarding these eight accounts, Twitter Support mentioned that none of these eight accounts were verified accounts.
‘Feeling Terrible’: Twitter CEO Dorsey
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey had tweeted that they “feel terrible” over what has happened and will share information when they have a complete understanding of the incident.
Rs 88 Lakh Transferred to Scam Account
According to logs recorded on bitcoin.com, the crypto scam saw 374 Bitcoin transaction worth $118,308.55 or Rs 88 lakh.
Hundreds of scam Tweets posted by malicious actors contained donation links associated with an organisation called “Crypto For Health.”
As of 16 July, the price of a single unit of Bitcoin stands at $9,102 or Rs 6.83 lakh. According to the site, 12 units worth of transactions were recorded during the the scam.
Twitter Employee Involved?
According to a report by VICE news, an employee of the micro-blogging site may be responsible for the takeovers of the accounts on 15 July.
According to VICE, “A Twitter insider was responsible for a wave of high profile account takeovers on Wednesday, according to leaked screenshots obtained by Motherboard and two sources who took over accounts.”
The report, quoting anonymous sources with direct knowledge of the scam, stated that an insider was paid to hack into the accounts. Moreover, the accounts were allegedly taken over using an internal tool at Twitter.
Some of the accounts appeared to have been compromised by changing the email IDs associated with the accounts.
The publication had also received screenshots of the Twitter panel which was used to change the email IDs. The screenshots of the user tool were also shared widely across Twitter.
Moreover, Twitter has deleted some of the screenshots of the panel shared by members of underground hacking communities and has suspended users who have tweeted them, claiming that the tweets violate its rules.
The company’s share reportedly declined by 3 percent.
(With inputs from Bloomberg)
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