What Happens if Twitter Gets Hacked?

Uncanny Valley | WIRED

WIRED

Technology

4.1 • 570 Ratings

🗓️ 17 November 2022

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Twitter doesn't work like it used to. Under new ownership, the site is operating with half its usual staff and an entirely new set of executive pressures. As a result, Twitter has become a more unstable platform. As features break, security measures lapse, and personnel struggle to keep up, Twitter is likely to also become more vulnerable to cybersecurity threats.

This week on Gadget Lab, WIRED security writer Lily Hay Newman joins the show to talk about what could happen if Twitter gets breached by hackers.

Show Notes

Read Lily’s story about the problems with Twitter’s SMS two-factor authentication. Read all of WIRED’s recent Twitter coverage.

Recommendations

Lily recommends Wicked protein bars, specifically the maple flavor. Lauren recommends Andy Greenberg’s book Tracers in the Dark. (WIRED has published a few excerpts.) Mike recommends the show The Sandman on Netflix.

Lily Newman can be found on Twitter @lilyhnewman. Lauren Goode is @LaurenGoode. Michael Calore is @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. The show is produced by Boone Ashworth (@booneashworth). Our theme music is by Solar Keys.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Lauren.
0:00.8	Mike.
0:01.7	Lauren, have you tried to download your Twitter archive yet? No, because in the words of the poet, Mary Oliver, when the time comes to let it go, you just have to let it go. You just have to tweet like your life depends on it, hold it close to you, and then let it go. Okay. I had this thought recently when I was at Blackwater Pond. Really? You went to Blackwater Pond? I was. I was actually there. But no, I guess if I'm being truthful as a journalist and as a professional keeper of the historical record, I probably should download my archive. Have you done it yet? Not in years now.
0:34.4	Have you deleted all of your super secret DMs on Twitter?
0:37.7	I've deleted some of them, but I'm not sure that I actually deleted them.
0:42.1	Okay, we need to talk about this. Let's do it.
0:49.2	Hi, everyone. Welcome to Gadget Lab. I am Michael Collori. I'm a senior editor at Wired. And I'm
0:56.3	Lauren Good. I'm a senior writer at Wired. And we are also joined by Wired Security writer Lily Hey Newman.
1:02.1	Hi, Lily. Welcome back. Hello. Thanks for having me. As always, it's a pleasure to have you here.
1:08.0	So look, we know we've been talking about Twitter a lot on the show recently,
1:11.4	and sure we are journalists and journalists are obsessed with Twitter, but for today's show,
1:16.8	we want to talk about Twitter one more time, but specifically because Twitter is currently
1:21.5	suffering some security issues that have wide implications. Since the new boss over there, Elon Musk,
1:27.0	laid off roughly 3,700 employees
1:30.2	two weeks ago, many people have been keeping close watch over Twitter to see what kind of chaos
1:34.9	might erupt. Security professionals and data privacy wonks are watching, and they're probably
1:40.3	sighing a lot, but hackers and attackers and scammers are circling the platform as
1:44.8	well. Lily, it is always fun to have you on the show, even if when you're here we always end up
1:50.4	talking about these doom and havoc situations. But I guess the first question about the security
1:55.4	situation at Twitter we have to ask you is this. What is going on inside the company that we know?
2:00.5	With the recent layoffs and
2:02.1	resignations, how stretched is Twitter's security staff? Yes, this is an important question,
	...

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