Credit: Thitichaya Yajampa, Shutterstock.com.

Verdict lists ten of the most popular tweets on cybersecurity in Q3 2020 based on data from GlobalData’s Influencer Platform. The top tweets were chosen from influencers as tracked by GlobalData’s Influencer Platform, which is based on a scientific process that works on pre-defined parameters. Influencers are selected after a deep analysis of the influencer’s relevance, network strength, engagement, and leading discussions on new and emerging trends.

Top tweets on cybersecurity in Q3 2020

1. Alex Stamos’ tweet on Facebook shutting down Russian networks

Alex Stamos, Director of Stanford Internet Observatory at Stanford University, shared an article on Facebook shutting down Russian networks operated by the country’s intelligence services.

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The research groups that studied the networks removed by Facebook disclosed that the networks attempted to interfere with the elections scheduled in November by disseminating fake information. The networks also tried courting black voters and criticising Joe Biden using fake news sites, online personas and think tanks.

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Username: Alex Stamos

Twitter handle: @alexstamos

Retweets: 260

Likes: 412

2. Dustin Volz’s tweet on hackers targeting US elections

Dustin Volz, a reporter at The Wall Street Journal, shared an article on findings made by Microsoft on a cyberattack by foreign hackers on presidential campaigns and individuals associated with the elections.

Microsoft noted that in recent weeks Russian government hackers targeted 200 US election related organisations, while Chinese hackers targeted accounts related to Joe Biden’s campaign and Iranian hackers targeted accounts involved in Donald Trump’s campaign.

Username: Dustin Volz

Twitter handle: @dnvolz

Retweets: 166

Likes: 220

3. Andy Greenberg’s tweet on security flaws in kids smartwatches

Andy Greenberg, a senior writer at Wired, shared an article on the vulnerabilities posed by kids’ smartwatches, according to a report from the Münster University of Applied Sciences. Researchers at the university examined smartwatches of various brands including JBC, Polywell, Starlian, Pingonaut, ANIO, and Xplora, which are designed to share location, audio and text messages through a smartphone app.

The research revealed that five out of six brands have security flaws enabling hackers to interrupt the information flow between children and parents and eavesdrop on the children surroundings. JBC, Polywell, ANIO, and Starlian were the most at risk among the brands tested. The influencer noted that despite repeated warnings some brands are yet to fix bugs.

Username: Andy Greenberg

Twitter handle: @a_greenberg

Retweets: 146

Likes: 216

4. Adam Levin’s tweet on seizure of cryptocurrency accounts of terrorist organisations

Adam Levin, founder of information and technology services company CyberScout, shared an article on the dismantling of cyber-enabled cryptocurrency accounts of terrorist organisations by IRS Criminal Investigation, the Justice Department and other government agencies. The accounts used state-of-the-art cyber tools and social media to raise funds for their terror campaigns.

Levin noted that dismantling such accounts helps in protecting the country, while disrupting the functions of the Post Office impacts mail-in voting thereby undermining the country’s democracy.

Username: Adam Levin

Twitter handle: @Adam_K_Levin

Retweets: 74

Likes: 184

5. Eugene Kaspersky’s tweet on multi-platform targeted malware framework (MATA)

Eugene Kaspersky, the CEO of Kaspersky, a computer and network security company, shared an article on how MATA frameworks are gaining access to both Windows and non-Windows operating systems including Linux and macOS.

These frameworks have targeted various companies in industries such as software development, e-commerce and internet services across Poland, Germany, Turkey, Korea, Japan and India. The objective behind the attacks is to steal customer databases and distribute ransomware, according to the data collected from the victims.

Username: Eugene Kaspersky

Twitter handle: @e_kaspersky

Retweets: 136

Likes: 183

6. Runa Sandvik’s tweet on hackers targeting local news sites

Runa Sandvik, an expert in computer security, shared an article on a report from security company FireEye on cyberattacks on local news sites. The report detailed that hackers targeted news sites in various countries across Poland and Lithuania to spread fake news against NATO and US troops by taking control over content management systems of sites.

FireEye suspects Russian involvement in political campaigns but is not clear on how the hackers gained the access to credentials of the news sites.

Username: Runa Sandvik

Twitter handle: @runasand

Retweets: 89

Likes: 178

7. Joseph Cox’s tweet on malware installed by European police on Encrochat devices

Joseph Cox, a journalist at Motherboard VICE, an online digital magazine dealing in science and technology, shared an article on malware installed by European police in devices using Encrochat, an encrypted service provider, to collect chat messages, geolocation data, usernames, passwords, Wi-Fi access points and more.

Encrochat company mainly provided encrypted custom made phones removing the GPS, microphone, and camera functionality. The devices were mostly used by crime groups in drug trafficking cases before the company’s operations were ceased.

Username: Joseph Cox

Twitter handle: @josephfcox

Retweets: 157

Likes: 175

8. Kevin Beaumont’s tweet on cyber-attack related death

Kevin Beaumont, senior threat intelligence analyst software company Microsoft, shared an article on investigation into the death of a female patient at the Düsseldorf University Hospital, which was recently hit by a ransomware attack. Hackers targeted computer systems at the hospital, while doctors were trying to transfer the patient to another hospital.

The death would be the first recorded case associated directly with a cyber-attack, if confirmed. Beaumont noted that warning on vulnerability of software should not be ignored or postponed as it escalates to dire situations. He added that governments and the industry should focus on ransomware groups.

Username: Kevin Beaumont

Twitter handle: @GossiTheDog

Retweets: 69

Likes: 162

9. Joseph Menn’s tweet on cyberattack on Joe Biden’s campaign

Joseph Menn, a reporter at Reuters, shared an article on the suspicion that Russian government associated hackers may interfere in the US presidential election campaign.

Microsoft identified that hackers tried to gain access to Joe Biden’s election campaign by attacking strategy advisor SKDKnickerbocker through phishing, over past two months but failed.

Username: Joseph Menn

Twitter handle: @josephmenn

Retweets: 108

Likes: 127

10. EFF’s tweet on security flaws in South Korea’s quarantine app

Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a non-profit organisation defending digital privacy, shared an article on security flaws of South Korean quarantine app identified by a software engineer. South Korea has been using mobile apps to curb coronavirus by contact tracing based on a variety of data.

Security flaws associated with the app, which have now been fixed, otherwise allowed hackers to access registration data including name, date of birth, nationality, address, phone number, location and medical symptoms as developers used weak encryption codes, the article noted.

Username: EFF

Twitter handle: @EFF

Retweets: 86

Likes: 92