Facebook Accounts On Twitter, Instagram Hacked

Red faces for security teams at both Twitter and Instagram, after the official accounts of Facebook and Messenger were briefly compromised on those platforms.

The OurMine hack collective claimed responsibility, and it is the same group that last week compromised the NFL and ESPN social media accounts.

Saudi Arabia-based hacking group OurMine has been around for a number of years now. In 2017 it took over the web address of Wikileaks (WikiLeaks.org) as part of its clash with rival hacker collective Anonymous.

OurMine hackers

OurMine hackers have previously taken advantage of the infamous LinkedIn password breach, and used the data there to attack some the biggest names in the technology industry.

This included Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who saw several of his social media accounts hacked by OurMine in 2016.

The group also also hit Wikipedia’s Jimmy Wales and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s Twitter account, as well as publications BuzzFeed and Forbes.

OurMine has also previously hacked Sony Music Global’s Twitter account.

OurMine typically use its hacks to advertise its own security consulting services.

Facebook targeted

And this time it was no different, after the hackers made multiple posts on Facebook’s Twitter account for example.

“Hi, we are OurMine. Well, even Facebook is hackable but at least their security is better than Twitter,” the hackers tweeted on Facebook’s Twitter account.

The OurMine hacks took place in a half an hour period on Friday evening.

A video (found here) by Jane Manchun Wong showed the tussle between the hackers and coprorate security teams, after its tweets were deleted and posted again.

A spokesperson for Twitter told The Verge that the takeover happened through a third-party platform, which is alleged to be Khoros.

Facebook meanwhile confirmed the hack.

“Some of our corporate social accounts were briefly hacked but we have secured and restored access,” Facebook tweeted.

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