HIGH-PROFILE TWITTER ACCOUNTS HACKED IN BITCOIN SCAM

The Twitter accounts of many high-profiled accounts were hacked on Wednesday.

The accounts of celebrities including rapper Kanye West, his wife Kim Kardashian West, Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk, and Microsoft founder Bill Gates, as well as politicians like former US vice president Joe Biden and former US president Barack Obama have all been hacked.

Following the incident, Twitter chief executive, Jack Dorsey, tweeted: “Tough day for us at Twitter. We all feel terrible this happened.”

According to the BBC many of the accounts hacked, even those that have been categorised as verified with a blue tick next to the name, have been unable to tweet and password changes have also not been allowed.

It appears as if the hackers offered to give followers of the hacked accounts Bitcoins and used the current worldwide COVID-19 pandemic as the reason for the account holders’ generosity.

Even companies like the tech giant Apple and car ride service Uber felt the brunt of the hack.

An official from the Biden campaign told TechCrunch that Twitter locked down the former vice president’s account “immediately” after it was compromised, and the campaign remains in close contact with Twitter on the issue.

Credit image: Business Insider