Irish police @GardaInfo and @GardaTraffic Twitter accounts hijacked to push cryptocurrency airdrop scam
Two official Twitter/X accounts of Ireland's police service, Garda Síochána, were accessed by an unauthorised third party on Wednesday evening and used to post cryptocurrency-related messages. The posts claimed followers could claim free cryptocurrency through an airdrop, a lure that can trick victims into handing over wallet keys and having their funds drained. @GardaTraffic has over 600,000 followers and @GardaInfo almost 300,000, so the posts could have reached hundreds of thousands of users. The Garda is conducting an internal investigation and working with the X platform to determine how the access occurred. A police spokesperson tried to dampen fears that sensitive information was compromised, but the article notes that the attacker may also have been able to read direct messages containing personal information from members of the public.
Technical Details
- The initial access method has not been disclosed.
- The article lists common account takeover routes: phishing emails, password-stealing malware and password reuse.
- The lure was a cryptocurrency airdrop link aimed at capturing wallet keys.
- The article cites earlier police account compromises: the Metropolitan Police (2019), Dubai police (HorsemenLulz, 2014) and Philadelphia PD (2022).
Remediation
- Protect accounts with multi-factor authentication.
- Use unique, strong passwords.
- Review which third-party apps have been granted access to the accounts.
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Irish police @GardaInfo and @GardaTraffic Twitter accounts hijacked to push cryptocurrency airdrop scam
ler a análise desta fonte ocultar
Two official Twitter/X accounts of Ireland's police service, Garda Síochána, were accessed by an unauthorised third party on Wednesday evening and used to post cryptocurrency-related messages. The posts claimed followers could claim free cryptocurrency through an airdrop, a lure that can trick victims into handing over wallet keys and having their funds drained. @GardaTraffic has over 600,000 followers and @GardaInfo almost 300,000, so the posts could have reached hundreds of thousands of users. The Garda is conducting an internal investigation and working with the X platform to determine how the access occurred. A police spokesperson tried to dampen fears that sensitive information was compromised, but the article notes that the attacker may also have been able to read direct messages containing personal information from members of the public.
Technical Details
- The initial access method has not been disclosed.
- The article lists common account takeover routes: phishing emails, password-stealing malware and password reuse.
- The lure was a cryptocurrency airdrop link aimed at capturing wallet keys.
- The article cites earlier police account compromises: the Metropolitan Police (2019), Dubai police (HorsemenLulz, 2014) and Philadelphia PD (2022).
Remediation
- Protect accounts with multi-factor authentication.
- Use unique, strong passwords.
- Review which third-party apps have been granted access to the accounts.