Hacking on Twitter is never ending. After many Quebec journalists, Guy A. Lepage lost his Twitter account to a fraudster.
At the end of the line, the facilitator vents his anger with a few expletives. “It’s really the worst company,” he said bluntly. Since Friday, Quebec’s most followed person on Twitter has been without access to its 483,000 subscribers.
Worse, since Monday morning, a hacker has falsely sold 10 autographed MacBook computers using his name and essentially his “blue authentication hook” for $550, including delivery.
“I’m angry, but most of all I feel sorry for the people who are going to be caught up in this libel,” explained Guy A. LePage. He believes that Internet users must fall into the trap.
Guy A. LePage’s account was impersonated after several Canadian journalists were also victims of identity theft on Twitter in recent days.
Nearly 72 hours after reporting that his account was taken over, Guy A. LePage still can’t believe the “incompetence” of the blue bird. “There must have been a 10-minute game between the moment my account was hacked and my condemnation on Twitter at the end of the day on Friday. »
A stern answer from customer service: “We’ll get back to you in a few days. »
Guy A. LePage could not recall a trick — such as clicking on a link — that led to piracy.
Create confusion
Aaron Derfel, for his part, is an investigative journalist for the daily newspaper Montreal Gazette Behind the CHSLD Heron scandal, the action that led to the hacking of his Twitter account on Thursday is well-remembered. Through a private message, a “representative” of the platform announced to the reporter that he would lose his authentication after “violating community rules.”
Image from screenshot
A link led to a form to challenge the decision. A simple click and hacker @Aaron_Derfel took over. “Recently, Elon Musk has talked a lot about fraudulent accounts, the sale of blue hooks, the removal of robots, the journalist notes. When I received the message, I thought: Well, this follows Elon Musk’s line. I think hackers are taking advantage of the confusion he caused. »
Mr. Derfel would soon receive this redemptive message on his iPhone: “Hi Aaron, I’d like to sell you your Twitter account”. The hacker sent tons of private messages between the journalists’ 31,000 subscribers to phish them. Mr. Derfel’s complaints to Twitter last Thursday went unheeded.
By him or, from his colleague’s account Montreal Gazette, Bill Brownstein, as well as journalists Hannah Thibedeau of CBC News and Catherine Gauthier of Radio-Canada were also caught in the hands of hackers. “I apologize to all the people who follow me if their account was hacked because of me,” Mr. Derfel said.
Like other media personalities, the journalist, known for his Twitter threads on the COVID-19 pandemic, managed to find his avatar on Monday. Meanwhile, he opened a new temporary account. “The irony is that after being hacked, the real me didn’t have a blue checkmark, and the fake one did,” noted the man, who quickly tweaked his security settings.
Lack of resources?
In early November, the contractor behind SpaceX and Tesla laid off nearly half of Twitter’s employees worldwide. “There has been hacking before, Mr. Derfel noted, but I think the fact that Elon Musk has done layoffs makes the platform much less secure. »
According to the journalist of Montreal Gazette, Twitter and its leaders face legal action. “With a site of a certain age with many coders, handover can be tricky,” says Nadia Seraiko, a lecturer at UQAM’s School of Media. “We are in a perfect storm in terms of security, with unfilled positions. »
According to a digital identity specialist, a series of recent hacks may be linked to the leak of personal data of 5.4 million Twitter users. According to the Bleeping Computer site, this data was stolen in December 2021 due to a security breach, but it was released for free on a hacker forum late last November.
Mme Seraiko suggests that Twitter users change their password to multi-factor authentication.
Is Guy A. LePage, powerless, afraid to ever let go of his formidable network of subscribers that makes him the envy of so many? Short silence: “Honestly, I won’t say anything. I am completely disillusioned with Twitter. Not for the interesting people I’ve been with for 10 years, but for publicity, threats – I’ve arrested a lot of people. I have been very poorly served, very disappointed with the service of this company. »
Whether he’s found his crown or not, Quebec’s Twitter king risks being wiser if not quieter. “When I lose trust in an organization, it’s hard to get it back. I’m not good at this. »
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