Hackers convinced, paid Twitter employee to help them hijack accounts: Motherboard

A Twitter employee assisted hackers who took over several high-profile accounts on the social media platform on Wednesday, according to two hackers who spoke to Vice-owned site Motherboard.

Hackers committed cryptocurrency fraud after they seized control of the Twitter accounts of celebrities and political figures including Joe Biden, Kim Kardashian, Barack Obama, and Elon Musk.

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"We used a rep that literally done all the work for us," one of the sources told Motherboard.

In this file photo taken on July 10, 2019, the Twitter logo is seen on a phone in this photo illustration in Washington, DC. (AFP)

The other source said hackers paid the Twitter insider. Motherboard said it had also obtained screenshots showing the internal tool hackers used in order to gain access to the verified accounts.

The screenshots, which Motherboard shared on its website on Thursday, showed one example of hackers accessing the account of Binance, a cryptocurrency exchange company.

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Motherboard said four sources within the underground hacking community had confirmed and shared similar screenshots of the internal Twitter tool hackers used to gain access during the breach.

The FBI's San Francisco office said on Thursday it has launched an investigation after hackers accessed Twitter's internal systems to hijack accounts for high-profile people and used them to solicit digital currency.

(With inputs from Reuters)