Last Wednesday several prominent European Twitter accounts were hacked by utilizing a flaw in the popular third-party Twitter app, Twitter Counter. BBC North America, the European Parliament, Amnesty International and UNICEF USA were just some of the Twitter accounts hacked into — and the result was tweeting Nazi-related messages in Turkish regarding the German and Danish governments.
The posts have left many wondering how vulnerable their Twitter accounts are and how they may protect themselves.
The Political Firestorm Behind the Hacks
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The Turkish hacker collective, Private Hackers, claims responsibility for the tweets. The group has been attacking Danish and German organizations for several weeks in response to the blocking of Turkish political campaigns in both the Netherlands and Germany.
Turkey is set to have a vote on the future of its nation’s political structure on April 16, 2017. This pivotal vote will decide if the nation will change from a parliamentary republic to an executive presidency.
In early March, to ensure the expatriate votes, Turkish officials were set to hold rallies in both the Netherlands and Germany. However, the two nations barred Turkish officials from having these rallies. Tensions between Turkey, Germany and the Netherlands have since risen, leading to Turkey’s president firing accusations at the two nations as well as the hacks of German and Danish servers.
The World’s Response
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Many of the organizations that were hacked have since posted messages apologizing for the tweets on Twitter pages and their websites.
Aside from the many Twitter accounts belonging to organizations and newsgroups, several celebrities were hacked as well. Stars like Boris Becker and Borussia Dortmund quickly deleted the offensive tweets sent from their accounts and issued apology tweets in the aftermath of the hacks.
Twitter and Twitter Counter have also tweeted messages explaining the problem and how they are investigating the source of the hacks.
Protect Your Twitter Account
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If you’re worried about hackers coming after you, there are two ways to ensure your Twitter account doesn’t become another victim of hacking: restrict third-party apps and enable two-factor authentication in your account.
- Restrict Your Third-Party Apps
Third-party apps are mobile and web applications that give you the ability to do more with, or in, primary applications. For example, the third-party app Twitter Counter allows users to collect user data based on information provided by the primary application, Twitter. Unfortunately, third-party apps like Twitter Counter can leave their primary applications vulnerable to hacking.
To ensure others don’t hack your Twitter account through third-party apps, restrict your account by following these steps:
- Access the account settings on your Twitter page.
- Find the Apps tab.
- Click the Revoke Access button in relation to the app(s) you want to restrict.
- Enable Two-Factor Authentication
Twitter’s two-factor authentication is the process of authenticating your identity by using both your password login as well as a one-time code Twitter sends to your phone. By enabling this security measure you prevent hackers who have your password from hacking your account — they would also need your physical phone to log into your account.
Creating two-factor authentication on Twitter takes a few steps, but the you’ll have extra security after you follow them:
- Go to the Twitter’s webpage and click on your avatar.
- Choose “Settings and Privacy.”
- Click the “Account” tab.
- Confirm your email address.
- Once confirmed, Twitter will send you an email. Open it and click the “Confirm Now” link.
- Follow the link to your Twitter page and return back to the “Account” tab.
- Check “Verify Login Requests” and then click “Start.”
- Enter your Twitter account password, then click “Verify.”
- Click “Send Code” so Twitter may verify your phone number.
- Twitter will send a text message to your phone — enter this message as soon as you receive it.
- Click “Get Backup Code” and Twitter will text your backup code to your phone. Save that code somewhere safe in case you change numbers or lose your phone.
By restricting access to third-party apps and enabling two-factor authentication, you will protect your information and help prevent your account from the next mass Twitter hack.
