Donald Trump Jr.'s X account hacked
Donald Trump Jr.'s X account was hacked on Wednesday, September 20, 2023. Hackers took over the Twitter account to post some sensational tweets.
Quoting from VIBE, Andrew Surabian, a Republican strategist and spokesman for Donald Trump Jr. confirmed the news of the hack. "Don's account has been hacked," he wrote.
The hacker wrote on Twitter that Donald Trump's son had died.
"I am sad to announce that my father Donald Trump has passed away. I will run for president in 2024," the account, which has more than 10 million followers, wrote.
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| Donald Trump, Jr. looks on upon arrival at General Mitchell International Airport, with US President Donald Trump, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on July 12, 2019. (Photo: MANDEL NGAN / AFP / Getty Images) |
The tweet has since been deleted. Surabian also added that former president Donald Trump is not dead, calling the claims "clearly untrue."
Not only that, Junior's account also alludes to conspiracy theories and information about the controversial figure Jeffrey Epstein. In another post, hackers claimed that crypto influencer Richard Heart was innocent of the investor fraud charges.
The Twitter account is used to spread hate speech. For example, threats against North Korea by tagging online streamer Adin Ross and scolding US President Joe Biden with harsh words.
These compromised accounts also claimed that Donald Trump Jr. would run for president. Within minutes, the post had been reshared more than 1,000 times on X and viewed hundreds of thousands of times.
Hackers use cloned mobile phone numbers?
Variety reported that the messages were posted massively around 8:25 a.m. ET, and took half an hour to delete and restore accounts.
As reported by PC Magazine, it is still unclear how hackers took over Donald Trump Jr.'s account. But in other high-profile hijackings, such as former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, the attackers were forced to use SIM swaps to gain access.
Also, read: Trump Released on Bail.
This often involves the perpetrator tricking the mobile operator into cloning the victim's phone number to a new SIM card, which can then be placed on their phone.
That phone number can then often be exploited to initiate a password reset for any online accounts it has registered.
That's exactly what happened to Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, who also suffered a SIM swap attack earlier this month, which allowed attackers to hijack his Twitter account.
Massive Hacking of Twitter Accounts of Public Figures Had Occurred in 2020
In 2020, Twitter also suffered a massive hack of verified accounts. As reported by Deadline, the accounts of big figures such as Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Bill Gates, and Jeff Bezos were targeted by hackers.
Jeff Bezos, Kanye West, and others have also been targeted by Bitcoin scams, as messages were posted to their accounts asking users to send them money.
Several company accounts were also hacked, including those belonging to Uber and Apple. This hack also hit the accounts of Warren Buffett and Mike Bloomberg.
In August 2020, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey's account was also hacked, and the perpetrators tweeted racial slurs and bomb threats. However, the messages were quickly deleted.
The incident quickly drew attention on Capitol Hill, where Twitter and other tech platforms are under intense scrutiny due to a host of issues including security practices, the spread of misinformation, and perceptions of political bias.
Ahead of the 2024 Elections, Twitter Again Allows Political Ads on Its Platform
After enacting a policy banning political ads in 2019, Twitter has now relaxed the rules again and exempted candidates and political parties from placing ads on its platform.
Twitter's policy update comes ahead of the upcoming U.S. elections in 2024. However, it is not yet known whether there are any types of political ads banned by this social media platform.
As reported by Engadget, Twitter will implement a special policy, namely paid political promotion uploads. The policy includes rules banning the promotion of fake content and content that has the potential to undermine public trust in elections.
Twitter also plans to create a global advertising transparency center, so users can track political ads on the platform. This policy change is said to have a significant impact on the upcoming 2024 elections.
In addition, Twitter is now establishing a team that oversees safety and election policies to combat content manipulation, display inauthentic accounts, and monitor threats that may arise on the platform.