Report: FBI Investigates Twitter Hack

The FBI has reportedly opened an investigation into the hack of Twitter that took place this week amid concerns that the company’s seemingly vulnerable systems could pose international security threats.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the FBI has opened an investigation into the recent hack of Twitter which saw multiple high-profile accounts hijacked and used to promote a Bitcoin scam that generated approximately $100,000 for hackers.

The accounts hijacked include Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden, Former President Barack Obama, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, and the official accounts of ridesharing service Uber and tech giant Apple.

Now, it appears that the FBI has begun reaching out to cybersecurity firms in relation to the hack. Allison Nixon, the chief research officer at the cyber services company Unit 221b, claimed that the FBI contacted her this week in relation to the Twitter hack. Blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis also claimed that it has been contacted by “several federal law-enforcement agencies about the matter.”

An FBI spokesperson told the WSJ that the bureau was aware of the hack but declined to comment on whether or not an official investigation had been launched. The extent of the hack is currently unknown and many worry that the hack could have had international security implications.

Sean Wright, an independent security researcher, said that he believes it to be “entirely plausible” that hackers gained access to hacked users’ private messages, known as DMs on the platform. Wright stated: “For me, personally, I think that would be the most sensitive data which they could have potentially had access to. If the attackers get their hands on this they could potentially use [the DM content] to blackmail their victims, and many of these victims are well-off financially.”

Wright added: “However in this case, at least with the information we have at hand, it looks like the attackers motivations are financial. It is entirely possible that was merely a distraction, and the attackers were either doing something else, such as siphoning off private data such as DMs, or using this as a means to create reputational damage.”