Last Wednesday, it was reported that Twitter accounts of famous people like billionaires Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, politicians like Joe Biden, Barak Obama and others were hacked. It was shocking news of a security breach at a very well known and popular big US tech company.

The hacked accounts of prominent customers like Barack Obama, Joe Biden and others were used to solicit cryptocurrency donations.

In a blog post published in company website to-day, Twitter updated on the account security breach that the hackers were able to gain access, change passwords and send tweets for 45 users and completely download data, including private messages, of eight users. According to the Hill, ‘the hack mostly targeted prominent profiles, like those of former President Obama and billionaire Warren Buffett, but no data was downloaded from verified accounts’.

• Major US Twitter accounts hacked in Bitcoin scam
• Hackers Tell the Story of the Twitter Attack From the Inside
• An update on our security incident

To-day The New York Times has published an inside story revealing how the incident occurred.

We’re acutely aware of our responsibilities to the people who use our service and to society more generally. We’re embarrassed, we’re disappointed, and more than anything, we’re sorry. We know that we must work to regain your trust, and we will support all efforts to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Official Twitter Blog

Hackers Tell Their Inside Story

The New York Times reporters Nathaniel Popper and Kate Conger write that they have a inside story how it occurred. ‘Several people involved in the events that took down Twitter this week spoke with The Times, giving the first account of what happened as a pursuit of Bitcoin spun out of control’.

They write: “Despite global attention on the intrusion, which has shaken confidence in Twitter and the security provided by other technology companies, the basic details of who were responsible, and how they did it, have been a mystery. Officials are still in the early stages of their investigation.”

The interviews indicate that the attack was not the work of a single country like Russia or a sophisticated group of hackers. Instead, it was done by a group of young people — one of whom says he lives at home with his mother — who got to know one another because of their obsession with owning early or unusual screen names, particularly one letter or number, like @y or @6.

The New York Times

Indeed, the inside story discovered by the Times is fascinating. I wonder how even such big global tech companies cannot provide secure services to their high profile customers.

Cover image source: screenshot from the BBC News