Modi’s Twitter account ‘briefly compromised’, crypto message posted

The micro-blogging site, however, said that all necessary steps were taken to secure the compromised handle as soon as it learnt of this activity.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Twitter account was briefly hacked early on Sunday after a tweet claiming that India has “officially adopted bitcoin as legal tender” was put out from it.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Twitter account was briefly hacked early on Sunday after a tweet claiming that India has “officially adopted bitcoin as legal tender” was put out from it. (ANI)

The micro-blogging site, however, said that all necessary steps were taken to secure the compromised handle as soon as it learnt of this activity.

At 2.11 am, a tweet from Modi’s handle said: “India has officially adopted bitcoin as legal tender. The government has officially bought 500 BTC and is distributing them to all residents of the country.”

While the tweet was brought down a few minutes later, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said the matter was discussed with the micro-blogging platform.

“The Twitter handle of PM @narendramodi was very briefly compromised. The matter was escalated to Twitter and the account has been immediately secured. In the brief period that the account was compromised, any Tweet shared must be ignored,” PMO tweeted.

Twitter said its probe revealed that “there are no signs of any other impacted accounts at this time”.

“We have 24X7 open lines of communication with the PM’s Office and our teams took necessary steps to secure the compromised account as soon as we became aware of this activity. Our investigation has revealed that there are no signs of any other impacted accounts at this time,” Twitter India spokesperson said.

Several Opposition leaders expressed concerns over the breach, saying it exposed chinks in the cyber security.

Indian Youth Congress president BV Srinivas made a cheeky comment in response to a tweet on the hacking. “Good Morning Modi ji, Sab Changa Si?” he posted on Twitter, while sharing screenshots of the now deleted tweet from Modi’s account.

Congress spokesperson Dr Shama Mohamed tweeted, “PM Modi’s Twitter handle was hacked last night. This is a major security breach. If the govt cannot adequately secure the account of the Prime Minister, how is it protecting the biometric aadhar data of crores of Indians which it insisted on collecting!”

Last year in September, the Twitter account linked to the Prime Minister’s personal website and mobile app, narendramodi_in, was hacked.