From Obama to Musk, All Exposed... Twitter's Worst Hacking Incident Ever

Celebrity Account Hacked: "Send Bitcoin Within 30 Minutes and Get Double Back"

▲A post on the hacked Twitter account of former U.S. President Barack Obama.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] A major incident occurred where Twitter accounts of famous figures such as former U.S. President Barack Obama, Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk were hacked en masse and exploited for financial fraud. It is unprecedented for multiple celebrity Twitter accounts to be hacked simultaneously in one day, raising serious concerns about Twitter's lax security policies and forecasting significant repercussions including a stock price plunge.

According to CNBC on the 15th (local time), a post appeared on Musk's Twitter account claiming to double Bitcoin investments and instructing users to send $1,000 (about 1.2 million KRW) worth of Bitcoin to a specific address within 30 minutes. Although the post was deleted within minutes, similar posts reportedly continued to appear.

The compromised accounts included not only Musk's but also those of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, rapper Kanye West, Microsoft (MS) founder Bill Gates, and Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett. Similar posts were also found on the official Twitter accounts of Uber and Apple.

According to Bloomberg, more than 11 Bitcoins, equivalent to about $100,000 (approximately 120 million KRW), were transferred to the Bitcoin address posted by the hackers.

Twitter stated that it immediately deleted the posts and would correct the situation, but the impact of the security breach is expected to be substantial. Twitter acknowledged the security incident through a post, saying, "We recognize this as a security breach," and added, "We will investigate the cause and take measures to rectify it." Twitter also deactivated all hacked accounts and urged users to reset their passwords.

CNN described the incident as "the largest and worst security breach in Twitter's history," expressing concern that the hack involved financial fraud and targeted globally famous individuals.

Former White House Chief Information Officer (CIO) Teresa Payton stated, "Twitter must clearly disclose how and why these accounts were hacked," and added, "Twitter should apologize not only to the users of the hacked accounts but also to the hackers who carried out this fraudulent act for its lax security policies."

Twitter, which has been embroiled in a series of setbacks this year, has once again come under scrutiny due to this unprecedented security breach. Previously, Twitter faced controversy over 'fact-check' labels, becoming a target of social media regulations signed by the Donald Trump administration. Internationally, Twitter declared it would not comply with requests for user information under the Hong Kong Security Law, exposing it to pressure from Chinese authorities. Coupled with this critical security breach, Twitter's stock price fell 5% in after-hours trading on the day.

Warnings have also been raised that this security breach could lead to a mass exodus of Twitter users. In 2018, Facebook suffered a hacking attack that exposed personal information of about 50 million users, leading to a wave of celebrity declarations to leave Facebook and a subsequent decline in users in their 20s and 30s. At that time, Musk also deleted his Facebook page and announced he would stop Facebook advertising.

Experts advise setting up stringent security procedures such as two-factor authentication to prevent hacking damage like this incident. Mel Shakir, Executive Director of Dremit Ventures in the IT security industry, recommended, "Users should use as many security options as possible, such as biometric authentication like fingerprints or hardware keys for two-factor authentication instead of text messages."

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey expressed regret over the hacking incident, stating, "We regret that this hacking incident occurred," and added, "We will share everything possible regarding the investigation into the perpetrators behind this hack."