Twitter moves to foil hackers after Chloe Grace Moretz's feed hijacked
Twitter said Wednesday it is temporarily blocking users from tweeting via SMS or text message, citing mobile carriers' unaddressed security "vulnerabilities."
The move comes after hackers appeared to have gained control of Hollywood actress Chloe Grace Moretz's Twitter feed earlier Wednesday and sent unsanctioned messages, including one claiming to reveal Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey's Social Security number. Screenshots of the since deleted tweets from Moretz's account show messages containing expletives and links to nude photos.
That apparent breach comes just five days after Dorsey's own Twitter account was hacked, raising concerns about the platform's security.
The hackers, in one of the tweets sent from Moretz's account, used the hashtag "#chuckingSquad," referring to the same group that is believed to have hacked Dorsey's account.
Moretz's brother, Trevor Duke-Moretz announced that his sister's account had been hacked. He advised her Twitter followers to "excuse anything being posted."
Twitter admitted on Wednesday that it's social media network is not entirely secure: "We're taking this step because of vulnerabilities that need to be addressed by mobile carriers and our reliance on having a linked phone number for two-factor authentication (we're working on improving this)," the company tweeted.
Twitter emphasized that blocking users from tweeting via SMS or text message was a temporary move. "We'll reactivate this in markets that depend on SMS for reliable communication soon while we work on our longer-term strategy for this feature," the company said.