Hackers announced that they had gained access to the Twitter account of NBC via the victim-agency’s account.
The official Twitter account of the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) has been compromised by a group of Internet activists joining the #EndSARS protest.
The group known for hacking repressive government’s website earlier announced its decision to attack Nigerian government agencies’ websites in solidarity with the protesters clamouring for the reformation of the police.
The group of anonymous hackers has carried out similar coordinated attacks in the United States, Israel, Tunisia, Uganda and some other countries. Its motto is simply “we are anonymous”, referring to its large number of individuals.
PREMIUM TIMES had on Thursday reported how the official website of the Nigeria Police Force was infiltrated by the group on Thursday.
Afterwards, the group released documents containing names, addresses, contacts and account details of hundreds of police officers on a text storage website, pastebin.com.
Checks by this paper showed that the domain of the website has been suspended. “This Account has been suspended,” a statement read.
On Friday, the hackers announced that they had gained access to the Twitter account of NBC via the victim-agency’s account.
“Good morning, great Nigerians. TGIF and it’s also a good day to #ENDSARS and #EndSWAT
Which government website(s) would you want us to play with? Drop your suggestions under this tweet.
#TwitterDown #NBChacked
We’re taking note of all your suggestions.
What does #Anon have to gain? Nothing!”
They restated that their mission is to support Nigerians “to say #EndSARS #ENDPOLICEBRUTALITY #ENDBADGOVERNANCE.”
The activity of the ‘hacktivists’ was also confirmed in a disclaimer issued by the broadcasting corporation on Friday morning.
“THE GENERAL PUBLIC IS PUT ON NOTICE THAT NBC TWITTER ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HACKED INTO. PLEASE DISREGARD ALL TWEETS FROM OUR HANDLE FOR NOW. WE ARE MAKING EFFORTS TO RECOVER IT. THANK YOU,” it wrote on Facebook.
In the heat of the cyber attack, Galaxy Backbone, an information technology and shared services provider of the Federal Government, advised those in control of MDAs and FG-owned Twitter accounts to activate a security feature.
“All MDAs of FG who have Twitter accounts are advised to activate Two-Factor Authentication on their accounts without further delay. Below is how to:
1. Go to “settings & privacy”
2. Go to “account”
3. Select “security”
4. Select Two-factor authentication
5. Select “text message”
Source: allafrica