Linus Tech Tips’ X/Twitter account was hijacked and discussed on the channel’s podcast, the WAN Show.
The email scam was relatively simple. Upon receiving a notification that his X account had been accessed in Russia, Linus hastily took action to secure it.
Despite Linus’s acknowledgement, he was greatly preoccupied. The occasion was a pool gathering, and he had recently ignited the barbecue. The document he stumbled upon bore a striking resemblance to an authorized X or Twitter password reset page.
This process simply involves entering your current password in the designated “old password”box. However, when you change it to a new one, there is no actual change made and this allows scammers to obtain your password.
According to cybersecurity expert John Hammond, social engineering plays a significant role in modern hacking. In his investigation, he discovered that the website would display an “incorrect password”message, even if the password entered was correct.
This guarantees that the hackers will obtain the correct password, since the victim is more likely to meticulously retype it a second time.
The complete breakdown of Hammond can be found in a dedicated video, or on a thread on X.
Linus Tech Tips considered quitting Twitter
The hackers briefly took control of the X account, a topic that Linus himself has mentioned potentially abandoning.
“The Twitter account doesn’t really concern me,”Linus interjected.
“Over the past six months, I have had several discussions about giving up on it completely.”
Ever since Elon Musk gained control of Twitter, the social media site has been receiving backlash from prominent content creators. Some of those who have abandoned Musk’s app, such as Linus Tech Tips, have found a new platform to establish themselves on.
“We do not receive a significant amount of engagement there, in comparison to Instagram and TikTok.”
Linus further disclosed that the company’s social media team has been reassigned to focus on other tasks. For instance, they have noticed a significant decrease in the number of “referrals”to the links they share.
Despite successfully securing the X account again, LTT pointed out the issue of important information being obscured in modern email applications. For instance, hiding email addresses in small drop-down menus, as seen in the Gmail app, can make it easy for malicious actors to deceive unsuspecting users.
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