Sasha FoxJan 5, 2023

Records of 235 million Twitter accounts and the email addresses used to register them have been posted to an online hacking forum, setting the stage for anonymous handles to be linked to real-world identities.

That poses threats of exposure, arrest or violence against people who used Twitter to criticize governments or powerful individuals, and it could open up others to extortion, security experts said. Hackers could also use the email addresses to attempt to reset passwords and take control of accounts, especially those not protected by two-factor authentication
https://wapo.st/3ijl8mX

Hackers leak email addresses tied to 235 million Twitter accounts

Researchers say the information was assembled by unknown actors who exploited a previously disclosed flaw in Twitter's system for verifying account ownership.

The Washington Post
Show threadSasha FoxJan 5, 2023

That above link is a gift article, so people can get around the paywall.

It's worth noting that two factor authorization isn't working properly on Twitter due to Musk. So, that's going to open up a lot more people to exposure.
https://www.wired.com/story/twitter-two-factor-sms-problems/

Twitter’s SMS Two-Factor Authentication Is Melting Down

Problems with the important security feature may be some of the first signs that Elon Musk’s social network is fraying at the edges.

WIRED
Show threadSasha FoxJan 5, 2023

This issue predates Musk taking over Twitter, but he's only made the situation worse since taking over.

Which is why he's under investigation.

"The US Federal Trade Commission is deepening an investigation it opened this fall into Twitter Inc.’s privacy and data security practices in the wake of the company’s takeover by billionaire Elon Musk, according to people familiar with the matter."
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-12-20/musk-s-twitter-draws-deeper-ftc-scrutiny-over-rising-privacy-security-concerns

Bloomberg - Are you a robot?

Show threadSasha FoxJan 5, 2023

That's not to be confused with the FTC investigation prompted by this data leak.

Musk is under an additional, entirely separate FTC investigation going on at the same time as this one.

What we learned when Twitter whistleblower Mudge testified to Congress
https://techcrunch.com/2022/09/13/twitter-whistleblower-mudge-congress/

TechCrunch is part of the Yahoo family of brands

Show threadSasha FoxJan 5, 2023

What is Musk focusing on over at Twitter, you may wonder:

"Twitter Inc's head of trust and safety told Reuters the company manually reviewed "any and all accounts" that violated its new privacy policy by posting links to a Twitter account called ElonJet that tracked Elon Musk's private jet using information in the public domain"

Yep. Manually going through and deciding who to ban and who to not ban for sharing the @elonjet Twitter account.

This was after firing almost everyone, so assume that's all they're doing these days: manually reviewing tweets about Musk.
https://www.reuters.com/technology/twitter-manually-reviewed-all-accounts-that-posted-links-elonjet-exec-2022-12-16/

Twitter manually reviewed all accounts that posted links to ElonJet -exec

Twitter Inc's head of trust and safety told Reuters the company manually reviewed "any and all accounts" that violated its new privacy policy by posting links to a Twitter account called ElonJet that tracked Elon Musk's private jet using information in the public domain.

Reuters
Show threadTake It EV Podcast 🎙️
@sashafox @elonjet no AI ? Shocking
Jan 5, 2023 at 6:25amMastodon for iOS
Show threadSasha FoxJan 5, 2023
@takeitev @elonjet That's only for us plebs.
https://eightpoint.app/@sashafox/109633965713128954
Sasha Fox (@[email protected])

And while Musk wants manual reviews for tweets having to do with him, he doesn't feel that's needed for anyone else. "Elon Musk's Twitter is leaning heavily on automation to moderate content, doing away with certain manual reviews and favoring restrictions on distribution rather than removing certain speech outright, its new head of trust and safety told Reuters." https://www.reuters.com/technology/twitter-exec-says-moving-fast-moderation-harmful-content-surges-2022-12-03/

eightpoint