Twitter was rocked by controversy as many well-known names on the platform were spoofed and hacked in an attempt to get people to buy false bitcoins. People like Elon Musk, Barack Obama and others were used as fronts for these hackers.
Twitter has since come out with some preliminary evidence regarding the hack. They believe the hackers paid off one of their employees, one of the most common ways to pull off one of these hacks to engage in social engineering.[1] This means that they were able to use the readily available information on the platform to get people to buy into the bitcoins using well known verified accounts. As a result, Twitter took the unprecedented step in shutting down any verified account, i.e those with the blue checkmarks next to their name. This means groups like NBC, BBC and other new agencies could not use their accounts to spread news.
The hack however reveals two serious issues. First, despite the fact they had work arounds, people who spoof or spread misinformation could have easily used their name and logo to spread false information which based on the reactions by unverified users is a good possibility. Second and probably the most egregious is the fact Twitter was completely blindsided by the hacks, leading to many questions about their security and how to handle it.
Though they were able to restore access to the users, the damage was already done and people are now looking for answers. This is proof that everyone is vulnerable to breaches and spoofing. Do not give your information freely and don’t open suspicious links.
[1] https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/16/twitter-hack-how-hackers-gained-access-to-accounts.html