The social network detailed the \u201cphone spear-fishing attack\u201d that was used to scam Bitcoin. The social network detailed the \u201cphone spear-fishing attack\u201d that was used to scam Bitcoin.<\/b>
\nMore details emerged Friday on the breach of high-profile Twitter accounts earlier this month, including how it was done and who may have been behind it.
Ryan Hughes of WFLA in Tampa, Fla., reported Friday that 17-year-old Graham Clark of Tampa was arrested early Friday morning and accused of being the mastermind behind the attack.
On July 15, accounts belonging to high-profile users including Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, former Vice President and current presidential candidate Joe Biden, Bloomberg co-founder and former presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg, Berkshire Hathaway chairman and CEO Warren Buffett, entrepreneur Elon Musk, former President Barack Obama and hip-hop superstar Kanye West were compromised, with many sharing tweets promising double the amount if people sent Bitcoin to a specific wallet mentioned within the tweets.
Hughes reported that Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren filed 30 felony charges against Clark this week: one count of organized fraud; 17 counts of communications fraud; one count of fraudulent use of personal information with over $100,000 or 30 or more victims; 10 counts of fraudulent use of personal information; and one count of access to computer or electronic device without authority.
Warren said the scheme netted over $100,000 in Bitcoin in just one day, adding in a statement, \u201cThese crimes were perpetrated using the names of famous people and celebrities, but they\u2019re not the primary victims here. This \u2018Bit-Con\u2019 was designed to steal money from regular Americans from all over the country, including here in Florida. This massive fraud was orchestrated right here in our backyard, and we will not stand for that.\u201d
The state attorney added, \u201cI want to congratulate our federal law enforcement partners\u2014the U. S. Attorney\u2019s Office for the Northern District of California, the FBI, the IRS and the Secret Service\u2014as well as the Florida Department of Law enforcement. They worked quickly to investigate and identify the perpetrator of a sophisticated and extensive fraud.\u201d
Twitter sent its plaudits, as well, tweeting, \u201cWe appreciate the swift actions of law enforcement in this investigation and will continue to cooperate as the case progresses. For our part, we are focused on being transparent and providing updates regularly.\u201d
We appreciate the swift actions of law enforcement in this investigation and will continue to cooperate as the case progresses. For our part, we are focused on being transparent and providing updates regularly. For the latest, see here???? https:\/\/t.co\/kHty8TXaly\u2014 Twitter Comms (@TwitterComms) July 31,2020
As for the \u201chow it was done\u201d part, Twitter updated its blog post on the incident late Thursday, saying that a \u201csmall number of employees\u201d were targeted through a \u201cphone spear-fishing attack.\u201d
The social network explained that not all employees who were initially targeted had permissions to use its account management tools, which were used to carry out the attack, but credentials from the initial group were used to access internal systems and gain information about Twitter\u2019s processes, which enabled them to target additional employees who did have access.
As previous reported, a total of 130 Twitter accounts were targeted, with 45 being used to tweet. Direct message inboxes of 36 accounts were accessed, and Twitter data was downloaded from seven accounts.
Twitter wrote, \u201cThis attack relied on a significant and concerted attempt to mislead certain employees and exploit human vulnerabilities to gain access to our internal systems. This was a striking reminder of how important each person on our team is in protecting our service. We take that responsibility seriously, and everyone at Twitter is committed to keeping your information safe.\u201d
The social network added that access to its internal tools and systems has been significantly limited, impacting some features, calling it \u201ca necessary precaution\u2026 We will gradually resume our normal response times when we\u2019re confident that it\u2019s safe to do so.\u201d
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David Cohen
David Cohen is editor of Adweek’s Social Pro Daily.<\/p>\n