Verified accounts on Twitter silent after hacking incident, others tweet memes about it

Many users responded to the security breach on multiple Twitter handles with sarcastic jokes and memes. Others said the fact that verified handles couldn't tweet for several hours was their time "to rise and shine".

By: Trends Desk
New Delhi | Updated: July 16, 2020 12:01 PM IST

4 min read

Many shared memes and jokes to reflect upon the situation claiming it’s time for the unverified accounts to steal the show online.

In a massive security breach, hackers accessed Twitter’s internal systems to hijack some of the platform’s top handles including US presidential candidate Joe Biden, reality TV star Kim Kardashian, former US President Barack Obama, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, and billionaire Elon Musk. All the hijacked handles were used to solicit Bitcoin and many on the platform were amused by how the hackers had silenced some of the biggest voices with one move.

The hijacked accounts sent out tweets seeking funds via Bitcoin and promising to double them if they were sent within 30 minutes. Twitter said it was aware of the security incident impacting its accounts and is investigating the issue. As the investigation unfolded, verified Twitter accounts suddenly lost the ability to post new tweets.

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“You may be unable to Tweet or reset your password while we review and address this incident,” Twitter wrote on its support account.

The Bitcoin address tweeted by the hackers was sent over 12 Bitcoins, worth more than $120,000. It appeared that popular Bitcoin exchange Coinbase has blocked its users from sending money to the address.

Explained: How Twitter was hacked and what questions it raises about security of the platform in election year

The hashtags #Hacked, #Bitcoin, ‘Blue checks’ and ‘Blue Tick’ were among the most dominant trends on the platform.

Many commented on the security issues this highlighted but others saw the funny side of how once instance of hacking had silenced some of the world’s most powerful voices. Many tweeted sarcastic jokes and memes over the security breach, whiel others mocked verified handles since they wouldn’t be able to tweet for several hours.

https://twitter.com/dolandwale/status/1283596386668175360

https://twitter.com/Andrew_H__1/status/1283533915265925126

https://twitter.com/Malcolm_fleX48/status/1283541813987618816

https://twitter.com/SSportsguy/status/1283547688248770562

https://twitter.com/alisonelaineee/status/1283581191099015168

Chief Executive Jack Dorsey said the company was diagnosing the problem and pledged to share “everything we can when we have a more complete understanding of exactly what happened.”

After accounts were restored, he tweeted, “Tough day for us at Twitter. We all feel terrible this happened.”

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