Twitter cleared after PM Modi’s official account was hacked – as soon as it came to light, it was fixed
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official Twitter account @narendramodi was hacked on Sunday. The hackers made two tweets related to bitcoin which were soon deleted. The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) informed that there was trouble for some time. The PMO said that if any tweet has been made during that time, then ignore it. Later, a Twitter spokesperson said that its communication lines with the PMO were open 24×7 and the glitch was rectified as soon as it was noticed.
What did the PMO say on hacking?
A spam tweet was posted at 2.11 am. The tweet said, ‘India has officially given legal acceptance to bitcoin. The government has officially bought 500 BTC and is distributing it to all citizens of the country. Hurry up India…… The future has come today!’ The tweet got deleted in barely two minutes. The second tweet came at 2.14 pm, which was a copy of the first one. This tweet also got deleted soon after. The PMO tweeted that Modi’s account was hacked for a while. People were advised to ‘ignore’ any tweet made during this period.
The Twitter handle of PM @narendramodi was very briefly compromised. The matter was escalated to Twitter and the account has been immediately secured.
In the brief period that the account was compromised, any Tweet shared must be ignored.
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) December 11, 2021
How did Twitter defend itself?
A spokesperson for the company said that as soon as they got the news of the account being hacked, steps were taken to secure it. “Our communication lines with the PM’s office are open 24×7,” the spokesperson said. He said that ‘our investigation shows that no other accounts are affected at this time.’ The company, however, did not specify when it received information about the hacking and how long it took to delete the tweet.
Modi’s account hacked for the second time in two years
Twitter account linked to Narendra Modi has been hacked for the second time in less than two years. In September 2020, the handle of Modi’s personal website @narendramodi_in was hacked. Then there was a demand for donation to the PM Kovid Relief Fund for cryptocurrency. In July last year, former US President Barack Obama, then former Vice President Joe Biden, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Tesla Chief Elon Musk’s accounts were also tweeted in the same manner.
