Security News > 2020 > October > New York financial watchdog calls for social media cybersecurity regulator after Twitter hack of Biden and Obama accounts
The world's biggest social media companies may have to put more of a priority on security now that a New York state financial watchdog is calling for the creation of a designated regulator tasked with monitoring their cyber defense.
The New York State Department of Financial Services made the determination in a lengthy report on the Twitter hack in July after the Justice Department said two teenagers and a 22-year-old took over more than 100 prominent Twitter accounts, including the accounts of former President Barack Obama and former Vice President Joe Biden.
"The Twitter Hack demonstrates the need for strong cybersecurity to curb the potential weaponization of major social media companies. The risks posed by social media to our consumers, economy, and democracy are no less grave than the risks posed by large financial institutions. The scale and reach of these companies, combined with the ability of adversarial actors who can manipulate these systems, require a similarly bold and assertive regulatory approach," the report said.
"Akin to other critical industries, public oversight of social media is needed. While there are various proposals to improve public oversight of large social media companies or technology companies more broadly, they primarily focus on the issues of antitrust/competition or content moderation. We need a comprehensive cybersecurity regulation and an appropriate regulator for large social media companies. The stakes are too high to leave to the private sector alone."
"The Twitter Hack happened in three phases: Social engineering attacks to gain access to Twitter's network; taking over accounts with desirable usernames and selling access to them; and taking over dozens of high-profile Twitter accounts and trying to trick people into sending the Hackers bitcoin. All this happened in roughly 24 hours."