Ultimate Guide to Twitter Hacks; Popular Methods & Tips to Secure Your Account

Given the differences in digital security consciousness among Twitter’s 290 million users, some people are prone to criminal hacks that may lead to unexpected outcomes.

Interestingly, it is always beneficial to spend some time updating yourself on the common Twitter hacks experienced by some other people like you.

As long as you still find your Twitter account valuable, you need to be aware of these hacks. Ignore them, and you might become the next victim in no distant time.

Even when you think you have everything under control regarding the security of your account, some hacking techniques might still be unknown to you. Besides, the ill-intentioned hackers spend so much time and resources updating their tools and tricks. Perhaps, the next point of vulnerability or loophole is probably unknown to you at this time.

Yes, Twitter promises end-to-end encryption as well as maximum security. However, no digital system is fail-safe as claimed by the big technology companies.

In addition to highlighting the Twitter hacks to watch out for, we’ll also show you how to protect your account and every other thing that matters to you on this social media platform.

In today’s modern world, to hack is to gain unauthorized access to a digital system and use it to manipulate outcomes within a digital or physical context.

A Twitter hack is simply gaining unauthorized access to Twitter accounts and using them for criminal purposes. To an average user, losing access to a Twitter account might seem insignificant an issue. But then, the outcomes of such a loss are usually unpredictable. That’s why the consequences may even result in the loss of real money.

Now imagine where the access to the Twitter accounts of high-profile individuals is lost to be found in the hands of criminal hackers. How do you begin to measure or predict the outcomes of social media manipulations that may result from such a hack?

There are different reasons why someone may hack into another person’s Twitter account. However, what motivates one hacker might be different than what drives the other. Based on the recent events we have seen in the social media space, here are some of the things that drive people to hack Twitter accounts.

• #1: Phishing Attacks

Phishing is a deliberate process of stealing data with unauthorized access to a computer system.

The types of data that can be stolen through phishing include login details for personal accounts, credit card information, and even tax records. With a hacked Twitter account, some users could be manipulated into giving out useful information to criminals they thought to be their friends.

A teen Twitter hacker was able to access accounts of the likes of Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Elon Musk, and more and tweeted out a message about Covid relief to anyone that sent Bitcoins to the linked account.

Never underestimate what may happen through a Twitter DM when a hacked account is found in the hands of criminal hackers.

With a little further research on our website, you could find some phishing techniques and examples that have victimized other people just like you.

• #2: Reputation Damage

Reputation is one thing that everybody values so much. That’s why some people and even companies pay huge money to protect their reputation. When what happens when Twitter accounts of reputable individuals and big companies are found in the hands of criminals?

The thing is that ill-intentioned hackers can damage real reputation within a few seconds or hours of hacking into a Twitter account. They do this by sending out harmful tweets from the accounts of the victims. And when your Twitter followers and contacts receive these things, they might be manipulated into taking some actions that will cause further damage.

But why would someone cause this type of damage?

First, some shady business people might do this just to put their competitors in a bad light. Other people could do it and force the victims to pay ransom in other for them to stop further damage.

• #3: Market Manipulation

There is no doubt that the opinions of influential people with millions of followers on Twitter can cause other people to take certain actions. Within the social media context, things can change fast. But the problem is that the majority of average users who spend a lot of time on this platform can hardly notice when a tweet is coming from a hacked account or real owner.

For example, the Department of Financial Services reported in July 2020 that hacking into a large number of Twitter accounts led to a noticeable crypto market manipulation.

How it happened was that the criminals were sending sensationally charged crypto-related tweets from the hacked accounts of influential individuals.

The same market manipulation that lasted for some hours resulted in a loss of $118,000 worth of bitcoin. Now think about this for a while. Can your perception or actions be manipulated through a hacked social media account?

To answer that question, think about how hard or easy it is to detect when a tweet is coming from a hacked account or the one controlled by the owner.

• #4: Financial Gain

Yes, financial gain is another big drive for hacking into other people’s Twitter accounts. Besides the benefits of market manipulation and reputation damage, some criminals are buying and selling hacked social media accounts on the dark web.

The interesting thing is that this trend goes beyond Twitter as a social media platform. In terms of Facebook hacks, some people are also buying, and selling hacked Facebook accounts for varying amounts of money.

• Spam Links

The use of shortened spam links is one Twitter hack used to prey on the vulnerability of everyday users.

Unknown to some people, the essence of shortening these links is to mask the domain name it is hosted or coming from. Most of these spam links will compel you to click the link to view or request something. Your best bet is to avoid clicking any link from an unknown sender or company in your DM.

• Suspicious Opportunity

This type of hack will promise you the opportunity to solve a problem or gain something of value. Imagine something like this  ‘I gained 1,300% on my crypto investment within seven days, click here to learn how. And then the next thing that follows is a shortened link. Whenever it sounds too good to be true, don’t click that link.

• Password Guessing

Pro hackers use password guessing and keyloggers to steal information from average social medial users. They do this by exploiting the loopholes commonly found in public Wi-fi networks.

Some of the best ways to prevent this from happening are to avoid using unsecured Wi-fi networks and to use one of the best VPN software products in the market. With the latter option, the level of encryption available will prevent such things from happening.

• Third-Party Apps

The third-party apps you allow to send tweets on your behalf could be a doorway to an eventual hack. Assuming the security protocol on the third-party app you use isn’t strong enough, criminal hackers can exploit that to take over your Twitter account and do many other undesirable things from there.

To prevent this from happening, change your password and disconnect any third-party app you find surprisingly in your account. If you must use one, make sure you are getting value from it. Don’t connect and forget any idle apps into your Twitter account.

• Change Your Credit Card

Have you ever paid for something on Twitter or a third-party app connected to Twitter? If yes is your answer, this is the first thing you should do.

Change your credit card as soon as possible. When it is not possible to do that right away, see if you can report to your bank to decline from Twitter and any app you list as connected with Twitter. By doing this, you’ll prevent financial loss.

• Reset Your Password

If you are watchful enough, it’s possible to detect the hack before it’s too late. Go to the original Twitter log-in page and request a password reset. Check the email address connected with your account and follow the prompts to reset your password. After resetting your password successfully, here is another thing you should do.

• Disconnect Unknown Third-Party Apps

Twitter lets you connect third-party apps to your account. These can be used as a gateway by hackers to access your account. To prevent this:

• Go to Twitter and sign in to your account
• Click the Settings tab and select Applications
• Check the list of third-party apps connected to your account
• Click the revoke access button around any apps you are not using or don’t recognize

 

• Contact Twitter Support

If you have tried all the steps, and methods mentioned above but still have not succeeded, don’t give up. You can go ahead and contact the Twitter support team as soon as possible. Unknown to you, your account might be the first entry for a large-scale attack. Do not fail to report as soon as possible.

Even as Twitter continues to improve its security systems, criminal hackers are never at rest. These guys are busy advancing their games too. That’s why you shouldn’t ignore updating your knowledge and personal security systems as well.

Now you know the common Twitter hacks they can use to trap people into their victim’s net, it is up to you to stay vigilant.

Assuming your account is already hacked, you can follow these steps to recover it. Interestingly, it is worthy to note that the same recovery methods have worked for other people. Hopefully, it will work for you as well.