Twitter halts ability of some accounts to tweet after massive hacker attack
Jul 15, 2020
California [US], July 16 : Twitter on Wednesday halted the ability for some accounts to send new tweets following a massive hacker attack on the social media website.
"You may be unable to Tweet or reset your password while we review and address the incident," Twitter Support tweeted.
"We're continuing to limit the ability to Tweet, reset your password, and some other account functionalities while we look into this. Thanks for your patience, " it added.
While Twitter hasn't confirmed how the block works, it appears to only apply to accounts that have been verified by Twitter, The Verge said.
Twitter's verification system grants a blue checkmark to let users know that an "account of public interest is authentic."
A number of high profile Twitter accounts including that of US presidential hopeful Joe Biden, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Microsoft Co-founder Bill Gates and of Apple were simultaneously hacked on Wednesday by attackers to carry out what appeared to be a cryptocurrency scam.
The accounts, along with those of former President Barack Obama, Kanye West, Warren Buffett, Jeff Bezos and Mike Bloomberg, posted similar tweets soliciting donations via Bitcoin to their verified profiles on Wednesday.
"Feeling grateful doubling all payments sent to my BTC address! You send $1,000, I send back $2,000! Only doing this for the next 30 minutes," Elon Musk now-deleted tweet read.
The accounts of Apple, Uber, and Kanye West have also been hacked and are promoting the show widespread the operation is, but it appears to be affecting major companies and extremely high-profile individuals.
