Twitter hack update: Attackers may have stolen private messages of 8 accounts

Reuters photo

Twitter Inc said on Saturday (July 18) that hackers were able to download account information for up to eight accounts involved in the hack of its systems this week, but said none of them were verified accounts.

The company said the unidentified attackers targeted 130 accounts and were able to reset passwords to take control of 45 of them and tweet from those accounts. It said the attackers attempted to download data for 'up to eight' non-verified accounts.

Twitter said hackers were able to view personal information including email addresses and phone numbers of the 130 targeted accounts, but were unable to view previous account passwords. It added that hackers may indeed have downloaded private direct messages (DMs) of up to 8 individuals while conducting their Bitcoin scam.

In the attack that occurred on July 15, hackers accessed Twitter's internal systems to hijack some of the platform's top voices, including US presidential candidate Joe Biden, reality TV star Kim Kardashian, former US President Barack Obama and billionaire Elon Musk, and used them to solicit digital currency. 

The high-profile accounts that were hacked also included rapper Kanye West, Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, investor Warren Buffett, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, and the corporate accounts of Uber and Apple.

Publicly available blockchain records show that the apparent scammers received more than $100,000 worth of cryptocurrency.

A day after the hacking incident, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey on July 16 apologised for the mega crypto scam that hit his platform, saying he feels terrible this has happened. In a tweet, Dorsey, who was the first to take on US President Donald Trump by flagging his controversial tweets, said it was a tough day for the company.

Twitter shares were down 3.3 per cent after the news on July 16, wiping out more than $1 billion from its market cap.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has launched a probe into the widespread hack. The FBI said on Thursday in announcing its probe that "at this time, the accounts appear to have been compromised in order to perpetuate cryptocurrency fraud." Twitter is cooperating with the investigation, said the agency.