OPINION_ Twitter is a national security threat

WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Twitter is a national security threat

by Washington Examiner, | | July 27, 2020 12:00 AM


Over the past few years, Twitter has coarsened the political discourse, aided outrage mobs, exposed the bias and ignorance of many media figures, and provided a forum for a president to vent his unfiltered thoughts. But the social media platform is increasingly turning into something much worse — a national security risk.

Earlier this month, scammers were able to access the accounts of high-profile users and send out tweets from their accounts imploring people to transfer them money. They only managed to steal about $120,000, but more worrisome was the fact that outsiders were able to gain temporary control of the accounts of Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and Elon Musk.

At the time, Twitter said that they believe the attackers orchestrated a “social engineering scheme” in which Twitter employees were manipulated, allowing the hackers to gain access to their credentials, which were then used to access the accounts. Twitter said that 130 accounts were targeted, and scammers were able to gain access to 45 accounts, enabling them to reset passwords, log in, and send tweets. In up to 36 cases, the hackers were able to gain access to users' private communications with other users, known as direct messages. One of those was an elected official in the Netherlands.

Further, Reuters reports that as of earlier this year, more than 1,000 Twitter employees and contractors had access to the tools needed to commandeer accounts in this manner. That is a startling revelation, given the number of high-profile users on the platform, as well as the incredible incentives that bad actors would have for taking them over.

...

READ MORE: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/editorials/twitter-is-a-national-security-threat

____________

...

Should prominent individuals, and especially world leaders, continue to use Twitter as a platform, the company needs to have some sort of special status for elite users whose accounts could, if hacked, alter world events in such manner. That would involve additional security precautions and a more limited number of employees with the security clearance to access the relevant tools. A smaller number of employees would be easier to vet. It would also be easier to monitor their actions and make them more fearful of getting caught if they let themselves be manipulated into providing credentials to hackers.

The bottom line is that Twitter currently poses a national security threat that must be addressed.

____________


***

Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog"
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .

conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
28072020
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là ĐỒNG LÕA với TỘI ÁC