Twitter has verified that some users targeted during the recent Bitcoin scam attack had their personal information compromised. Of the 130 accounts accessed, thirty-six had their DMs accessed, including one elected official in the Netherlands. Meanwhile, eight unverified accounts are also reported to have had their “Your Twitter Data” files containing more extensive personal information downloaded.
Rather than a hack, per se, the thieves’ access was achieved through a social engineering attack. Such methods usually involve building rapport with people with information or using leverage against them in order to extract said information. The methods are better represented as a cat burglary of the mind, opposed to the high-tech hacking wizardry of some other historic breaches within major tech companies. The company reports that the next steps include strengthening security, as well as specifically providing increased training to prevent future social engineering attacks.
Twitter’s recent updates regarding the incident outline details regarding the attack, which took place on July 15. The response on the day of the attack was swift and revealed the rapidity and extent of Twitter’s power to mute. Google also adjusted access to Twitter via its search engine in response to the crisis. However, while it was quickly addressed and resolved, the Twitterati remain shaken. Trust will be difficult to restore, though the company is collaborating with law enforcement, continuing to investigate the breach, and is implementing increased security protocols.
Twitter Hack Bitcoin Scam Crisis Response
The old school methods of social engineering will remain a force to be reckoned with despite technological advances, as long as social creatures remain as workers within the firms that guard user data. While the culprit has been identified, the method remains difficult to combat, especially as cunning and savvy work hand in hand to devise creative new solutions to the creation of problems. The advance of technology and human ingenuity produces a vicious circle of cat and mouse.
Thus, Congress is demanding transparency, and rightfully so. As people outsource more of their sensitive data to private companies, it is essential to understand how such attacks take place, in order to prevent them in the future. So too, Twitter and other social media companies with social workers must be on the lookout for how social engineering might evolve, as they design and implement their enhanced training programs.
Source: Twitter