Government sponsored hackers targeting Twitter users

Twitter warned its users on Monday by email that their social media account may have been compromised by hackers who are sponsored by government. The company didn’t mentioned the country name who are backing this hacking group. The number of accounts targeted is still unknown, but its clear that hackers stole users phone number, email address and IP address.

The social media giant only shared limited information with their users and stated they are investigating this matter. Not all the users who received the email from micro-blogging site are targeted. There is news circulating on the internet and some various other sources that, Chinese or North Korean government are behind this state sponsored attack. But so far there is no evidence to back these allegations.

The authenticity of the emails are confirmed just after few hours. This is the first time a social media website has issued such a warning. This attack has raised more concerns about, how easy it is for a hackers to exploit vulnerabilities and stole whatever they want from us. The shortage of cyber security professionals in the world is seen as a main reason behind these attacks.

This isn’t the first time an attack is sponsored by government hackers. Syrian Electronic Army, a hacking group backed by Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad has claimed responsibility of attacks on some popular news websites.


FREE Cyber Security Training by EH Academy – Limited Time offer Enroll now.