This archive report was first published on 17 July 2020.
On Thursday, Twitter disclosed that hackers had targeted approximately 130 accounts in a cyberattack, compromising the profiles of numerous high-profile individuals and organizations.
The hackers gained access to Twitter's internal systems, allowing them to hijack the accounts of prominent figures such as U.S. presidential candidate Joe Biden, reality TV star Kim Kardashian, former U.S. President Barack Obama, and billionaire Elon Musk.
According to Twitter, the hackers were able to send tweets from a 'small subset' of the targeted accounts, soliciting digital currency.
Twitter has stated that it is continuing to assess whether the attackers were able to access private data of the targeted accounts.
The high-profile accounts that were hacked also included rapper Kanye West, Amazon.com Inc founder Jeff Bezos, investor Warren Buffett, Microsoft Corp co-founder Bill Gates, and the corporate accounts for Uber Technologies Inc and Apple Inc.
Twitter has reiterated that it is working with impacted account owners and is cooperating with the FBI's San Francisco division, which is leading an inquiry into the hacking.
Publicly available blockchain records show that the apparent scammers received more than $100,000 worth of cryptocurrency.
As the investigation continues, Twitter has stated that it will share more details on longer-term steps it may take to prevent similar incidents in the future.
