A little after midnight, while bargain loving Malaysians were using up their time limited shopping vouchers during the 11.11 sale, a Twitter user noticed that the Malaysian Army twitter account was hacked.
The account name was changed to “Shib” and the army emblem was replaced with the logo of the Shiba Inu cryptocurrency, also known as SHIB.
Shiba Inu (the cryptocurrency) was established in August 2020 and was named after a Japanese breed of dog.
Those who hijacked the account also managed to put up two posts. Twitter user @saifulhisham captured it all in a screenshot and shared it on Twitter with the caption: How did the Twitter account of the country’s defenders get hacked?!
Macam mana akaun Twitter pertahanan negara boleh kena hack?! 🤦🏻♂️ pic.twitter.com/tYFLHTIr3p
— Syam immigrant (not expatriate) 🏴 (@saifulhisyam) November 10, 2021
The account has since been restored and the unwelcomed posts have been removed.
In a replay, a Twitter user asks “Isn’t Twitter’s security Twitter’s responsibility?” and another user poignantly answered “But, enabling 2-factor authentication is the user’s responsibility”.
Tapi enable 2-factor security adalah user punya responsibility.
— 🏴Mi$¢ha $elamat🏴 #REVOLUSIS (@Michellelanious) November 11, 2021
To activate 2-factor authentication on your own Twitter account from your phone: launch the app, tap on your profile photo, scroll down to Settings and privacy, then Security and account access, Security, and finally Two-factor authentication.
There are several options to choose from, but Text message (less secure) and Authentication app (more secure), are the most common options.
