Unit 1: Attack and Damages
Attack
On 15 July 2020, users of Twitter woke up to one of the worlds largest cyberattacks. when multiple high profiled Twitter accounts were taken over.
These accounts were used to send tweets where the hackers promised that if users send bitcoins to a link, the hackers will send back double the bitcoin
Twitter is a social media website that is actively used by high profile individuals which include Elon Musk, Donald Trump and Kim Karadashian.
What is Twitter?
What was notable about the attack was that it was perpetrated by a 17-year-old teen along with a few accomplices.
The hackers managed to hack twitter by a combination of different social engineering techniques, including phishing and vishing, and spear phishing.
Social engineering is a type of manipulation that makes people give up confidential information or perform an action. This may include giving up account passwords, security systems and information about important employees.
What is Social Engineering?
Damages
The Twitter attacked led to $118,000 worth of bitcoin lost and 130 accounts being hacked. 7 Twitter accounts also had their account data downloaded by the hackers.
Even though the damages of the attack weren't as bad as it could have been, this attack has exposed a dangerous flaw that could have been exploited to cause more significant damages.