Hackers allegedly compromised a third-party Twitter app and began posting pictures of swastikas and pro-Turkish president messages on hundreds of Twitter accounts, including several verified ones. Duke University, Forbes, Nike Spain, UNICEF USA, and Starbucks Argentina are some of the well-known accounts that were compromised this morning.
https://twitter.com/OliverClarity/status/841981467001511936
We can confirm that our account was hacked. We are deeply concerned that our social media platforms would be used to promote hate speech.
— UNICEF USA (@UNICEFUSA) March 15, 2017
First reported by Gizmodo, the attackers posted a message in Turkish referencing April 16, when a referendum will give more power to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Some of the messages are followed by the hashtags #Nazialmanya (Nazi Germany) and #Nazihollanda (Nazi Holland), presumably referencing the elections in these countries and the political tension between them and Turkey.
Several verified accounts including Duke University & Amnesty International remain compromised following widespread hack #Nazialmanya pic.twitter.com/6GH5Byik9E
— Mikael Thalen (@MikaelThalen) March 15, 2017
The tweets also included a four-minute YouTube video of pro-Erdogan propaganda.
The verified Twitter support page says the source of the attack was a third-party app, and claims to have resolved the issue.
We identified an issue affecting a small number of users. Source was a 3rd party app and it has been resolved. No action needed by users.
— Support (@Support) March 15, 2017
That app appears to be Twitter Counter, which admits to having been hacked.
https://twitter.com/thecounter/status/841935867925139458
https://twitter.com/thecounter/status/841936613752094721
https://twitter.com/thecounter/status/841941624238284800
https://twitter.com/thecounter/status/841941624238284800
https://twitter.com/thecounter/status/841962176722083840
Some accounts have not fully recovered:
H/T Gizmodo