NewsBytes
    Hindi Tamil Telugu
    More
    In the news
    Mukesh Ambani
    WhatsApp
    Reliance Jio
    OPPO
    Vivo
    Sensex
    Bitcoin
    NewsBytes
    Hindi Tamil Telugu
    NewsBytes
    User Placeholder

    Hi,

    Logout


    India Business World Politics Sports Technology Entertainment Auto Lifestyle Inspirational Career Bengaluru Delhi Mumbai Visual Stories Find Cricket Statistics Phones Reviews Fitness Bands Reviews Speakers Reviews

    Download Android App

    Follow us on
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Linkedin
     
    Home / News / Business News / Twitter contractors spied on celebrities like Beyonce
    Business

    Twitter contractors spied on celebrities like Beyonce

    Twitter contractors spied on celebrities like Beyonce
    Written by Shubham Sharma
    Jul 28, 2020, 07:22 pm 3 min read
    Twitter contractors spied on celebrities like Beyonce

    As Twitter continues to draw flak for the recent hack of several high profile accounts through its internal tools, Bloomberg has published a report highlighting another major skeleton in the company's closet. According to the outlet, some of Twitter's contractors had, for months, abused their access to internal tools to spy on celebrities, including Beyoncé. Here's what went down.

    1,500 contractors given powerful, spying-enabling tools

    In recent conversations with former Twitter employees, Bloomberg learned about the microblogging giant's lax efforts to keep tabs on its contractors' actions, and the security concerns stemming from it. The people claimed that these 1,500 workers are tasked with the job of resetting/managing accounts, reviewing user breaches, and responding to content violations, but the tools they use open the way for spying as well.

    What kind of information the tools gleaned?

    The tools provided the contractors access to personal information like account IP addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers - all of which could be used for spying/hacking. In fact, the former employees added, some workers in 2017 and 2018 exploited this information and created fake help-desk inquiries to get into the accounts of celebrities, including Beyoncé's, and access their private data and approximate locations.

    Contractors made a game out of this

    The former employees emphasized that these controls were so porous that the contractors exploiting them had made a game out of creating these bogus help tickets, indicating that something was wrong with the account, for spying purposes. Some of them were hired by Cognizant.

    Meanwhile, Twitter's security teams struggled to act

    The practice of illegally spying on accounts became so frequent that Twitter's security teams in the US often failed to keep track of the intrusions, Bloomberg's sources claimed. Some of the workers were caught and subsequently fired but others found work-arounds to explore data and account details of "former lovers, politicians, favorite brands, and celebrities," without being caught red-handed.

    Ironically, management did not prioritize account snooping from inside

    The matter of account snooping from the inside was raised with CEO Jack Dorsey and the company's board of directors "almost annually during a period from 2015 to 2019." But, it was not presented (or seen) as an immediate major concern and, therefore, deferred in favor of the cybersecurity efforts or consumer features/products that could generate more revenue for the company.

    What Twitter says on this?

    In response to the report, the company's spokeswoman disputed the way former employees presented Twitter's response to concerns regarding the access and abuse of internal tools. She added, "We have no indication that the partners we work with on customer service and account management [willingly] played a part here," referring to the recent breach of accounts that took place through its internal employee tools.

    Share this timeline
    Facebook
    Whatsapp
    Twitter
    Linkedin
    Twitter
    Bloomberg
    Beyonce
    United States of America
    Cybersecurity

    Twitter

    NewsBytes Briefing: Google extends work from home and more Intel
    Aishwarya, Aaradhya test negative for COVID-19, discharged from hospital India
    #WeeklyRecap: OnePlus Nord launch, massive VPN leak, Garmin's outage, more Microsoft
    After divorce rant, Kanye West apologizes to Kim Kardashian Kim Kardashian

    Bloomberg

    Google likely to invest $4 billion in Reliance's Jio Platforms Google
    Experts think first COVID-19 vaccines might not prevent infection United States of America
    2 lakh H-1B workers could lose legal status by June Donald Trump
    Amid coronavirus crisis, this Indian business tycoon is growing richer Mukesh Ambani

    Beyonce

    BET Awards: How artists addressed social injustice through virtual performances Jennifer Hudson
    Bella Hadid is world's most beautiful woman, according to math London
    Beyonce's father, Mathew Knowles, talks about his breast cancer diagnosis Entertainment
    Rich and Famous: These celebrities own the most extravagant houses Celebrity

    United States of America

    Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine goes into final human trial stage NIAID
    NewsBytes Briefing: Google sued for shady practices, and more Facebook
    Study identifies 21 existing drugs that could treat COVID-19 Research
    Garmin suffers massive outage, leaving fitness devices disconnected Twitter

    Cybersecurity

    Amid coronavirus crisis, Iran-linked hackers tried accessing WHO staff emails Iran
    Marriott suffers data breach, over 5 million guest records stolen Security
    Watch out! Phishing attacks around coronavirus spike by over 600% United States of America
    Hackers are infecting PCs, stealing passwords with coronavirus maps Malware

    Love Business News?

    Subscribe to stay updated.

    Business Thumbnail
    Indian Premier League (IPL) Celebrity Hollywood Bollywood UEFA Champions League Tennis Football Smartphones Cryptocurrency Upcoming Movies Premier League Cricket News Latest automobiles Latest Cars Upcoming Cars Latest Bikes Upcoming Tablets
    About Us Privacy Policy Terms & Conditions Contact Us Ethical Conduct Grievance Redressal News News Archive Topics Archive Download DevBytes Find Cricket Statistics
    Follow us on
    Facebook Twitter Linkedin
    All rights reserved © NewsBytes 2023