Instagram has eliminated hundreds of stolen accounts as part of online hacking activities designed to gain access to and sell rare and sought-after usernames. The edge. Both TikTok and Twitter also took action on some accounts belonging to the same hackers, reports journalist and cyber security expert Brian Krebs.
The platform owned by Facebook has especially drawn its attention to the community around OGUsers, a website known for trading in stolen usernames and facilitating the hacking of these accounts through sim exchange, that is when a user gains control over someone’s phone number. and use it to reset passwords and take control of social media handles. The news about maintaining Instagram was first reported on Thursday by Reuters.
‘Today we are removing hundreds of accounts linked to members of the OGUsers Forum. They are harassing, blackmailing and harming the Instagram community, and we will continue to do everything in our power to make it difficult for them to take advantage of Instagram usernames, ”a Facebook spokesperson said. The edge. The disclosure is noteworthy because it is the first time the platform has disclosed moderation information against username hackers. Earlier this week, Instagram introduced a new feature that allows people to recover deleted posts if a hacker takes control of their account and wipes it clean.
Krebs reported Thursday that the repression was something of a joint effort, with Twitter and TikTok acting on popular members of the OGUsers community on the same platforms at the same time (although it is unclear how much coordination there is between the three companies or how far-reaching TikTok is). and Twitter’s maintenance was).
“As part of our ongoing work to find and stop fraudulent behavior, we have recently recovered a number of TikTok usernames used for account crunching,” TikTok said in a statement to Krebs. “We will continue to focus on the ever-evolving tactics of bad actors, including collaborating with third parties and others in the industry.”
In addition to eliminating the stolen accounts and making them worthless, the social platforms have also eliminated a number of accounts of known OGUsers intermediaries acting as intermediaries during username transactions by keeping funds in exchange for a reduction in the fee. Reuters.
OGUsers made headlines last summer when a small group of hackers linked to the site allegedly participated in an unprecedented Twitter hack that reset the passwords of dozens of high-profile individuals and businesses, including Elon Musk and Barack Obama , recovered and its use access to a bitcoin scam. Just like the individual at the center of the Twitter hack, the then 17-year-old Graham Ivan Clark, there are many of the hackers on Instagram who strike today and those who visit OGU users regularly are minors, often by the lure of theft in the community. and maintaining a rare own username.
These usernames are mostly single words – in rare cases individual letters or numbers – and they can fetch tens of thousands of dollars in underground markets for stolen digital goods. And because platforms like Instagram and Twitter have rules prohibiting the buying and selling of accounts, hackers interested in acquiring one of these coveted handles often use illegal means to obtain it. SIM hacking is a popular method but standard phishing as well as persistent online harassment, extortion and even swatting are other known techniques, notes Reuters.