Wednesday, July 15th, 2020, will forever be remembered as the day Twiter became a puppet in the hands of a mischievous hacker.
Twitter was hacked. And the accounts of some of the most prominent people in crypto and the world were compromised and used to steal Bitcoin in giveaway scams.
Experts Share Their Opinions
Although the micro-blogging platform has regained control and is currently investigating the matter, industry experts are still sharing their thoughts and opinions about the unceremonious, yet chaotic incident.
One of those experts is the American computer programmer and crypto proponent, John McAfee. For McAfee, security is his expertise, and he is known as the founder of one of the world’s largest computer security firms.
McAfee Advises Twitter CEO
He took it to Twitter to share what he thinks about the hack from a security angle while also advising the platform’s founder and CEO, Jack Dorsey.
According to the security expert, Twitter’s security Achilles heel lies in the Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) as it “exposes users to trivial SIM Swap hack.”
Dorsey was once a victim of a sim swap hack sometime last year, and his personal Twitter account was compromised for about 20 minutes.
Advising the Twitter boss, McAfee said:
“I may be crazy, but I’m still the founder of the world’s largest computer security firm, and I’m telling you:
2-factor authentication is Twitter’s worst security threat. It exposes users to the trivial SIM Swap hack, which @Jack was a victim of.
Wake up, Jack!”
He then warned users not to give companies their phone numbers if they were used for authentication. Explaining further, McAfee noted that even a 12-year-old could socially engineer the phone company and gain control over users’ numbers.
“It is the simplest of all social engineering hacks. Are you listening, Jack?” he asked.
Millions Lost To Sim Swap Theft
Sim Swap theft is a common but effective hacking technique. Several stories have been reported about traders and investors who lost millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrencies in sim swap hacks.
In May, blockchain investor Michael Terpin sued an 18-year-old boy for hacking his phone through a sim swap to steal $24 million worth of cryptocurrencies. Terpin had earlier sued his phone provider, AT&T, for aiding and abetting the theft.
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