The Senate Commerce Committee chairman and the top Republican on the House Oversight and Reform Committee on Thursday demanded Twitter brief lawmakers on the unprecedented hack that compromised the accounts of prominent celebrities and politicians, including presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden
Joe BidenGiuliani goes off on Fox Business host after she compares him to Christopher Steele Trump looks to shore up support in Nebraska Jeff Daniels narrates new Biden campaign ad for Michigan MORE and former President Obama.
In separate letters to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, the lawmakers said the breach represented a “failure” of the company’s internal controls. Sen. Roger Wicker
Roger Frederick WickerEnsuring more Americans have access to 5G technology Zuckerberg to express openness to Section 230 reform Bipartisan group of senators call on Trump to sanction Russia over Navalny poisoning MORE (R-Miss.), chairman of the Senate commerce panel, called on Twitter to brief the committee staff by July 23 about the incident and the company's response.
Rep. James ComerJames (Jamie) R. ComerHillicon Valley: Department of Justice sues Google | House Republicans push for tech bias hearing | Biden drawing more Twitter engagement for first time House Republicans push VA for details on recent data breach House panel advances bill to ban Postal Service leaders from holding political positions MORE (R-Ky.), the ranking member of the House Oversight panel, said in his letter that Wednesday's breach of the social media platform had the "potential to jeopardize national and economic security and disrupt the lives of millions of Americans." He urged Dorsey to brief members of the House committee by July 24 and provide a list of answers providing clarity on what the hackers accomplished.
Wednesday's attack is likely the largest ever on Twitter's security system. In a matter of minutes, the Twitter accounts of Biden, Obama, Tesla CEO Elon Musk
Elon Reeve MuskBlue Origin takes one small step toward being a competitor to SpaceX Virgin Hyperloop to build new certification center in West Virginia SpaceX awarded contract to build US military tracking satellites MORE, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos
Jeffrey (Jeff) Preston BezosBlue Origin takes one small step toward being a competitor to SpaceX Democrats question Amazon over reported interference of workers' rights to organize Hillicon Valley: Twitter lacked adequate cybersecurity protection ahead of July hacks, regulator says | Twitter, Facebook clamp down on New York Post article about Hunter Biden | YouTube bans COVID-19 vaccine misinformation MORE and Microsoft founder Bill Gates had been breached as part of an apparent bitcoin scheme. Those who infiltrated the accounts shared similar messages asking people to transfer bitcoin payments to a certain bitcoin wallet.
Twitter said late Wednesday that the perpetrators likely launched a "coordinated social engineering attack" that successfully targeted some employees who have access to internal systems and tools.
"We know they used this access to take control of many highly-visible (including verified) accounts and Tweet on their behalf," the company said. "We’re looking into what other malicious activity they may have conducted or information they may have accessed and will share more here as we have it."
The breach of the social network raised alarms in Washington, given the widespread use of the network in the U.S. Wicker argued it isn't difficult to imagine similar attacks being deployed to spread disinformation and sow discord. Comer also cited President Trump
Donald John TrumpGiuliani goes off on Fox Business host after she compares him to Christopher Steele Trump looks to shore up support in Nebraska NYT: Trump had 7 million in debt mostly tied to Chicago project forgiven MORE's frequent Twitter use in his letter to Dorsey to emphasize how consequential breaches of the platform could be. Trump's account was not visibly compromised Wednesday.
Comer asked Dorsey to brief lawmakers on how many employees were targeted in the hack and to provide answers on what type of training staffers receive when it comes to cyber attacks. He also requested information on whether the hacking was committed by a foreign adversary or a private entity.
Several lawmakers have echoed Comer and Wicker's concerns since the breach occurred. Sen. Josh Hawley
Joshua (Josh) David HawleyMurkowski predicts Barrett won't overturn Roe v. Wade Infrastructure, energy investments urgently needed to create U.S. jobs Justice Department charges Google with illegally maintaining search monopoly MORE (R-Mo.), an outspoken critic of Big Tech, said that a "successful attack on [Twitter] system’s servers represents a threat to all of your users’ privacy and data security.”
Sen. Ron Wyden
Ronald (Ron) Lee WydenPlaintiff and defendant from Obergefell v. Hodges unite to oppose Barrett's confirmation Senate Democrats call for ramped up Capitol coronavirus testing House Democrats slam FCC chairman over 'blatant attempt to help' Trump MORE (D-Ore.) voiced fears about if hackers gained access to Twitter direct messages, saying that if that was the case, "this breach could have a breathtaking impact for years to come."
While it’s still not clear if the hackers gained access to Twitter DMs, this is a vulnerability that has lasted for far too long and isn't present in other competing platforms. If hackers gained access to users' DMs, this breach could have a breathtaking impact for years to come.
— Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) July 16, 2020
The FBI is reportedly leading a federal inquiry into the incident. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo
Andrew CuomoRand Paul rips 'leftwing media' for focusing on COVID-19 cases: 'Mortality rates are plummeting' Trump aide accuses CNN's Chris Cuomo of breaking quarantine while COVID-19 positive in heated interview New York surpasses half a million COVID-19 cases MORE (D) has also directed state agencies to launch a probe into the matter.
Updated: 2:35 p.m.
