David Beckham’s Dead And The Top 5 Twitter Hacks
This morning twitter lit up with a rumour that David Beckham had died. While it appears to be nothing more than a rumour, it is the latest in a long line of hacks and rumours that spread like wildfire across the social networks. Here are 5 other hacks that have made the front pages…
Topiary, not just a lovely bush, but the nickname for one of the super hackers behind Anonymous and LulzSec, is allegedly the 19 year old arrested in the Shetland Islands this week by British police, for crimes against cyberspace. The arrest is closely linked to an enormous investigation alongside the FBI into a denial-of-service attack on third party payment service PayPal, that took down the site for four days last December. The Anti-Security hacker movement, notoriously sympathetic to Julian Assange, targeted the company after PayPal suspended all donations to WikiLeaks. Following the arrest this week, LulzSec and Anonymous have turned their boycott up a notch, again persuading hundreds of users to close their PayPal accounts.
While Scotland Yard have not identified the teenager’s identity as Topiary, his usually active Twitter account is now sparse but for the singular statement “You cannot arrest an idea.” So, with one of the most outspoken advocates of the Anti-Security hacking movement now apparently on lockdown, we take a look at cyber pests’ favourite soap-box and target of choice, Twitter. While enormously popular, Twitter is a hackers delight having both notoriously vulnerable security and the ability to spread news of a hack like an Australian bush fire.
PayPal
PayPal’s shoddy customer service has been the subject of bitter criticism from users, with the website www.paypalsucks.comlong established before any Twitter hijacking. But when the UK’s PayPal account profile picture was changed to a steaming pile of poop and re-directed followers to the hate-website, users instantly smelt a LulzSec rat. However, this turned out not to be the handiwork of a hardcore hacker but that of one particularly enraged customer. So that should make you feel safe giving them all your bank account details.
Britney Spears
If YouTube comments are to be believed, Britney Spears is indeed at the fiery helm of the Illuminati world domination committee, along with every other popstar ever. Complete with a new illiminaughty triangle plentiful background and profile picture, the hackers Tweeted Spears’ allegiance to Lucifer to her 3 million plus followers. While many famous Twitter’s have been broken into, including the obvious prey of uber celebs Justin Bieber and Lady GaGa, other than lots of capital letters and profanities, Britters’ account jacks have been the most imaginative, including when it was famously compromised to announce her own death. Cue a frenzy of hysterical RIP hash-tagging.
Fox News
Again, this beautiful Twitter hijack was initially suspected to be a LulzSec job but was in fact by fellow Internet scamps, Scriptkiddies. Both Fox’s site and social networks have been repeatedly attacked by a number of different hacking groups, one time satisfyingly announcing that Fox reporter and everything-o-phobe, Bill O’Reilly, was gay. Though the hijack earlier this July, is possibly one of the worst egg on their face blunders for Fox, as Scriptkiddies not only Tweeted that President Obama had been assassinated, but the rogue messages were not noticed or removed by Fox for nearly ten hours. A favourite punching bag for hacktivists, there’s sure to be more Fox fun to come.
Iranian Cyber Army
December 2009, and millions of Twitter users looking to post motivational quotes and share photos of their breakfast shot through a vintage photography filter, are instead confronted with an ominous Iranian Cyber Army page. A drastic attack on Twitter, the radical Shiite hackers were able to re-route the entire site. The hack was said to be in response to Twitter’s unwitting yet pivotal role during the unrest in Tehran, where protestors were able to push news out while skirting the Iranian government’s media crackdown. It was, sadly, seen by some as interference. While only KOing the site for an hour, it stands as Twitter’s worst security embarrassment to date.
This morning twitter lit up with a rumour that David Beckham had died. While it appears to be nothing more than a rumour, it is the latest in a long line of hacks and rumours that spread like wildfire across the social networks. Here are 5 other hacks that have made the front pages…
Topiary, not just a lovely bush, but the nickname for one of the super hackers behind Anonymous and LulzSec, is allegedly the 19 year old arrested in the Shetland Islands this week by British police, for crimes against cyberspace. The arrest is closely linked to an enormous investigation alongside the FBI into a denial-of-service attack on third party payment service PayPal, that took down the site for four days last December. The Anti-Security hacker movement, notoriously sympathetic to Julian Assange, targeted the company after PayPal suspended all donations to WikiLeaks. Following the arrest this week, LulzSec and Anonymous have turned their boycott up a notch, again persuading hundreds of users to close their PayPal accounts.
While Scotland Yard have not identified the teenager’s identity as Topiary, his usually active Twitter account is now sparse but for the singular statement “You cannot arrest an idea.” So, with one of the most outspoken advocates of the Anti-Security hacking movement now apparently on lockdown, we take a look at cyber pests’ favourite soap-box and target of choice, Twitter. While enormously popular, Twitter is a hackers delight having both notoriously vulnerable security and the ability to spread news of a hack like an Australian bush fire.
PayPal
Britney Spears
Fox News
Iranian Cyber Army
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