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Twitter Tightens Security Ahead of US Presidential Election
Twitter is making a host of new security measures compulsory for accounts belonging to users considered influential in the upcoming election.
By Paddy Baker
Updated May 9, 2023, 3:11 a.m. Published Sep 18, 2020, 11:35 a.m.
High-profile users on Twitter will be told to up their account security as the platform looks to prevent hacks and protect "unique sensitivities" in the run-up to the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
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- The social media site said in a post Friday that certain Twitter accounts will be required to use strong passwords and will only be able to reset them if they supply identifying information, such as an email or a phone number.
- It will also roll out a series of internal security safeguards to better detect malicious activity and attempts to take over accounts.
- Although not mentioned explicitly, Twitter alludes to the fact that it has been victim to serious security incidents before.
- Earlier this year, a teenager masterminded a coordinated attack on 30 high-profile Twitter users, including CoinDesk's, that hijacked accounts and sent messages promising to double the money of users who sent cryptocurrency.
- The attack targeted major U.S. political figures, including Democrat candidate Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama.
- In a separate attack just two weeks ago, hackers hijacked a Twitter account of Narenda Modi, the prime minister of India, sending messages that asked for cryptocurrency donations.
- Available to everyone, the new security measures will be compulsory for accounts considered influential in the upcoming election – such as U.S. government officials, candidates standing for office as well as major newspapers and high-profile political journalists.
- In order to prevent misinformation spreading on its platform, Twitter has already introduced warning labels for tweets it believes are either misleading or unsubstantiated.
- It has even flagged tweets from U.S. President Donald Trump, one of its most notable and perhaps controversial users.
- Twitter has a pivotal role in crypto – it's where many businesses and projects communicate major news announcements to their followers and where major debates, like that surrounding the Bitcoin Cash hard fork, take place.
See also: Social Engineering: A Plague on Crypto and Twitter, Unlikely to Stop
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