Twitter's hack: more costly than Bitcoin

Today’s news of a hack that compromised prominent Twitter accounts in order to solicit Bitcoin deposits is surprising only because the hacked accounts are so prominent – and that the hackers were soliciting a cryptocurrency rather than cash. 

It’s been described as the most high-level hack of twitter ever, hijacking feeds including Joe Biden’s and Barack Obama’s. Ostensibly, these blue-tick accounts carry the authority to convince the unwary of their legitimacy – and that of their online wallets.

The amount stolen, currently around $100,000 so far, is relatively small in the world of online scams – but because it’s Bitcoin, news reports are that much more excitable.

 The reasons for demanding Bitcoin aren’t difficult to fathom. Because cryptocurrencies are unregulated – one of their key selling points – and anonymous make them ideal for a scam of this nature. In addition, despite progress being made in legitimising cryptoassets, they remain strongly associated with both criminal activity and extreme price volatility.

 The assumption that holders of Bitcoin would be savvier than those bilked of their holdings today seems to be unfounded. While the blockchain that supports Bitcoin and other cryptoassets is very secure, clearly the best way to access these assets illicitly remains targeting the weakest link in the system – the people using it.

 It’s too early to say how much damage this hack has done: the laissez-faire world of cryptocurrencies is unlikely to be roiled for long (if at all) – but Twitter needs to show quickly and with conviction that their security is up to the challenge and that this particular hack can’t happen again. With its ongoing utility dependent on a reputation for security, it has much more to lose.

Photo by Charles Deluvio on Unsplash