Security News

Trump Twitter Account Hacked, No Charges: Dutch Prosecutors
2020-12-16 18:17

Dutch prosecutors Wednesday said a man had cracked US President Donald Trump's Twitter account in October despite denials from Washington and the company, but added that the so-called "Ethical hacker" would not face charges. Both the White House and Twitter have strenuously denied reports that the account had been hacked.

Twitter scores a first for big tech after being fined €450,000 by Ireland's data watchdog for violating the EU's GDPR
2020-12-15 18:59

Ireland's Data Protection Commission has fined Twitter €450,000 after ruling a bug in the firm's Android app that allowed users' private messages to be publicly viewed infringed the EU's General Data Protection Regulation. "The DPC's investigation commenced in January, 2019 following receipt of a breach notification from Twitter and the DPC has found that Twitter infringed Article 33(1) and 33(5) of the GDPR in terms of a failure to notify the breach on time to the DPC and a failure to adequately document the breach. The DPC has imposed an administrative fine of €450,000 on Twitter as an effective, proportionate and dissuasive measure" the DPC said.

Twitter fined by EU data protection watchdog for GDPR breach
2020-12-15 08:34

Ireland's Data Protection Commission fined Twitter €450,000 for failing to notify the DPC of a breach within the 72-hour timeframe imposed by European Union's General Data Protection Regulation and to adequately document it. "The DPC's investigation commenced in January 2019 following receipt of a breach notification from Twitter and the DPC has found that Twitter infringed Article 33(1) and 33(5) of the GDPR in terms of a failure to notify the breach on time to the DPC and a failure to adequately document the breach," the Irish DPC said.

No, the creator of cURL didn't morph into Elon Musk and give away Bitcoins. But his hijacked Twitter page tried to
2020-11-18 06:26

The creator of cURL reassured The Reg on Tuesday that he's not a billionaire rocket man giving away Bitcoins, no matter what his Twitter account claimed. Daniel Stenberg, who maintains the widely used Swiss army-knife of network data transfer tools, had his verified Twitter account hijacked by person or persons unknown, its name and avatar was changed to that of Elon Musk's, and it was used to peddle a Bitcoin scam.

Legendary hacker and L0pht member Peiter Zatko joins Twitter as security chief
2020-11-17 14:03

Twitter has hired legendary hacker Peiter "Mudge" Zatko as head of security. Speaking to CNBC, he described his remit as including "Information security, site integrity, physical security, platform integrity - which starts to touch on abuse and manipulation of the platform - and engineering."

Peiter 'Mudge' Zatko Named Head of Security at Twitter
2020-11-17 12:13

Social media giant Twitter has appointed security expert Peiter Zatko as its head of security. On Monday, shortly after Reuters broke the news, Zatko confirmed on Twitter that he has joined the social media platform's executive team.

After Dutch bloke claims he hacked Trump's Twitter by guessing password, web biz says there's 'no evidence'
2020-10-23 05:36

Donald Trump's Twitter password was easily guessed, and he still isn't using multi-factor authentication, claims a Dutch hacker who on Thursday bragged he broke into the President's account last week. Twitter was having none of it, though: the password guessing nor the link posting.

Researcher: I Hacked Trump’s Twitter by Guessing Password
2020-10-22 18:45

Dutch ethical hacker Victor Gevers claims it only took five attempts to guess the password to President Donald Trump's Twitter account - "Maga2020!". Twitter Safety & 2FA. Twitter said it is dubious about the report.

New York financial watchdog calls for social media cybersecurity regulator after Twitter hack of Biden and Obama accounts
2020-10-22 14:43

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.

Twitter Hack: 24 Hours From Phishing Employees to Hijacking Accounts
2020-10-16 11:29

Hackers needed roughly 24 hours to take over high-profile Twitter accounts in the July attack, a report from the New York Department of Financial Services reveals. A couple of weeks after the incident, Twitter revealed that hackers targeted some employees with phone phishing until gaining access to the account support tools they needed.