Twitter has, for the first time, sent warnings to a number of users that their accounts may have been hacked by "state-sponsored actors", according to reports.
The hackers may have sought their e-mail or IP addresses, or phone numbers, which it recently began collecting, according to the e-mail Twitter sent to affected users.
The number of accounts affected by the suspected hack is unclear, reported BBC News.
Some of the users who tweeted about receiving the notice on Friday were cryptographers, security researchers, activists or journalists. Twitter confirmed that it had sent the e-mail about state-sponsored actors, but declined to comment further, according to the Financial Times.
Coldhak, a Canadian non-profit organisation, said it had received a warning from Twitter.
"We believe that these actors (possibly associated with a government) may have been trying to obtain information such as e-mail addresses, IP addresses, and/or phone numbers," the e-mail stated.
http://vision.ia.ac.cn/vanilla/index.php?p=/discussion/213622/12-free-seo-tools-you-must-use
"At this time, we have no evidence they obtained your account information, but we're actively investigating this matter. We wish we had more we could share, but we don't have any additional information we can provide at this time."
From hacking by individuals to state sponsored cyber attacks, we have come a long way in cyber security. In fact, state sponsored cyber attacks are fast outpacing the traditional cyber criminals in today’s world. Facebook and Google have already started warning their users about nation sponsored cyber attacks and now Twitter became the third tech company to follow suit.
Yesterday, a few Twitter users tweeted out an email they got from the social network’s security staff, in which they were warned of cyber-attacks on their account from what the team suspected to be a state-sponsored group.
Twitter has been subject of hack attacks from such state sponsored entities because it hosts accounts of thousands of journalists, political dissidents and other opponents. As said above, until now, Google and more recently Facebook have been the only two companies that have warned users of possible state-sponsored attacks.
Twitter said it was investigating the attack but did not provide details of the origin. Yesterday we listed the state sponsored hacking groups and we know for sure that only China, Russia, Iran, North Korea and the US employ such groups on a larger scale but it is also known that smaller countries also sponsor such hacking groups. These are usually the ones with an oppressive government, such as some Middle Eastern, African, and South American regimes.
The company’s alert highlights growing concern over hacking activity backed by foreign governments after a year in which high-profile cyber attacks included the breach of 22 million personnel profiles at the US department of homeland security.
Other companies such as Google and Facebook already have warning systems to alert users who may be targeted by state-sponsored hackers.
Twitter sent a warning email to users that it believes may have been affected, stating that the hackers may have been trying to obtain telephone numbers, email and IP addresses.
The social media company started collecting phone numbers from users earlier this year.
State-sponsored hackers are the most sophisticated and well-resourced hackers. They often use cyber attacks to conduct espionage or steal intellectual property.
But most Twitter posts are public, suggesting the hackers may have been more interested in obtaining personal data – such as phone numbers – or finding a way to tweet through hijacked accounts.
Some of the users who tweeted about receiving the notice on Friday were cryptographers, security researchers, activists or journalists.
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Many reacted on Twitter with surprise and often a sense of humour. “Remember the day when ‘state-sponsored actors’ meant the national performing arts company doing Shakespeare in the park?,” wrote user Mark Wodrich, whose profile states he is a “software security geek”.
Twitter said “a small group of accounts” was affected, adding that the company was still investigating.
A Twitter poll found that 20 per cent of respondents had received the email about the state-sponsored attack, based on 46 users who responded to the survey posted on Twitter by the user Stribika.
Twitter has alerted users about security breaches before, such as in 2013 when it emailed more than 200,000 users to alert them their Twitter passwords and email addresses may have been stolen.
Twitter confirmed that it had sent the email about state-sponsored actors.
One example of state-sponsored hacks is the Syrian Electronic Army, which has previously targeted newspaper Twitter accounts and used them to broadcast false news. The group supports the Syrian president and has also targeted Skype and the websites of several newspapers.
The hackers may have sought their e-mail or IP addresses, or phone numbers, which it recently began collecting, according to the e-mail Twitter sent to affected users.
The number of accounts affected by the suspected hack is unclear, reported BBC News.
Some of the users who tweeted about receiving the notice on Friday were cryptographers, security researchers, activists or journalists. Twitter confirmed that it had sent the e-mail about state-sponsored actors, but declined to comment further, according to the Financial Times.
Coldhak, a Canadian non-profit organisation, said it had received a warning from Twitter.
"We believe that these actors (possibly associated with a government) may have been trying to obtain information such as e-mail addresses, IP addresses, and/or phone numbers," the e-mail stated.
http://vision.ia.ac.cn/vanilla/index.php?p=/discussion/213622/12-free-seo-tools-you-must-use
"At this time, we have no evidence they obtained your account information, but we're actively investigating this matter. We wish we had more we could share, but we don't have any additional information we can provide at this time."
From hacking by individuals to state sponsored cyber attacks, we have come a long way in cyber security. In fact, state sponsored cyber attacks are fast outpacing the traditional cyber criminals in today’s world. Facebook and Google have already started warning their users about nation sponsored cyber attacks and now Twitter became the third tech company to follow suit.
Yesterday, a few Twitter users tweeted out an email they got from the social network’s security staff, in which they were warned of cyber-attacks on their account from what the team suspected to be a state-sponsored group.
Twitter has been subject of hack attacks from such state sponsored entities because it hosts accounts of thousands of journalists, political dissidents and other opponents. As said above, until now, Google and more recently Facebook have been the only two companies that have warned users of possible state-sponsored attacks.
Twitter said it was investigating the attack but did not provide details of the origin. Yesterday we listed the state sponsored hacking groups and we know for sure that only China, Russia, Iran, North Korea and the US employ such groups on a larger scale but it is also known that smaller countries also sponsor such hacking groups. These are usually the ones with an oppressive government, such as some Middle Eastern, African, and South American regimes.
The company’s alert highlights growing concern over hacking activity backed by foreign governments after a year in which high-profile cyber attacks included the breach of 22 million personnel profiles at the US department of homeland security.
Other companies such as Google and Facebook already have warning systems to alert users who may be targeted by state-sponsored hackers.
Twitter sent a warning email to users that it believes may have been affected, stating that the hackers may have been trying to obtain telephone numbers, email and IP addresses.
The social media company started collecting phone numbers from users earlier this year.
State-sponsored hackers are the most sophisticated and well-resourced hackers. They often use cyber attacks to conduct espionage or steal intellectual property.
But most Twitter posts are public, suggesting the hackers may have been more interested in obtaining personal data – such as phone numbers – or finding a way to tweet through hijacked accounts.
Some of the users who tweeted about receiving the notice on Friday were cryptographers, security researchers, activists or journalists.
https://www.patreon.com/backlinksor
Many reacted on Twitter with surprise and often a sense of humour. “Remember the day when ‘state-sponsored actors’ meant the national performing arts company doing Shakespeare in the park?,” wrote user Mark Wodrich, whose profile states he is a “software security geek”.
Twitter said “a small group of accounts” was affected, adding that the company was still investigating.
A Twitter poll found that 20 per cent of respondents had received the email about the state-sponsored attack, based on 46 users who responded to the survey posted on Twitter by the user Stribika.
Twitter has alerted users about security breaches before, such as in 2013 when it emailed more than 200,000 users to alert them their Twitter passwords and email addresses may have been stolen.
Twitter confirmed that it had sent the email about state-sponsored actors.
One example of state-sponsored hacks is the Syrian Electronic Army, which has previously targeted newspaper Twitter accounts and used them to broadcast false news. The group supports the Syrian president and has also targeted Skype and the websites of several newspapers.
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