Twitter prevents at least some verified accounts from publishing
messages after 'worst hack of a major social media platform'.
A series of
high-profile Twitter
accounts were hijacked on Wednesday, with some of the platform's top
voices--including U.S. presidential candidate Joe Biden, reality television
show star Kim Kardashian, former U.S. President Barack Obama, billionaire Elon
Musk, and rapper Kanye West, among many others--used to solicit digital
currency.
Nearly two hours after the first wave of hacks, the cause of the breach had not yet been made public. In a sign of the seriousness of the problem, Twitter took the extraordinary step of preventing at least some verified accounts from publishing messages altogether.
It was not clear
whether all verified
users were affected but, if they were, it would have a huge impact on the
platform and its users. Verified users include celebrities, journalists, and
news agencies as well as governments, politicians, heads of state, and
emergency services.
Twitter did not
offer clarification but said in a statement that users "may be unable to
tweet or reset your password while we review and address this incident."
The unusual scope
of the problem suggests hackers may have gained access at the system level,
rather than through individual accounts. While account compromises are not
rare, experts were surprised at the sheer scale and coordination of Wednesday's
incident.
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