26 April 2023

Andrew Barr's Twitter account hacked, posting crypto and stock trading tweets

| Lizzie Waymouth
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Andrew Barr hacked tweet

One of the tweets sent by Andrew Barr’s hacked Twitter account on Anzac Day. Image: Screenshot.

ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr’s Twitter account was hacked yesterday morning (25 April), with several cryptocurrency and stock trading-related tweets posted on his official account.

His bio was also changed to “Swing/Day Trading Mentor”.

Normal tweets were still being sent from Mr Barr’s account at the same time his account was being hijacked – posts about how to “Turn $20k into $1 million in 100 trading weeks” were side by side with tweets about Anzac Day and solar lighting in ACT bus stops.

Guardian journalist Josh Butler posted several screenshots of the out-of-character tweets. He suggested that “the person operating the account is just blasting out tweets drafted & saved by Barr’s office”.

One ANU student also noticed the unusual activity and messaged the account to see how “Barr” would respond.

She tweeted that she had messaged the hacked account, saying, “Hi can I work with you on your upcoming digital marketing project”. She received a reply saying, “Hello – what experience do you have in the digital marketing space ?”

The crypto/stock tweets were soon deleted, but there was no immediate explanation for what had just happened.

That evening, Mr Barr confirmed his account had been hijacked. He tweeted: “Apologies for the unusual twitter activity in recent times. As would have been pretty clear, my account was hacked. Thank you to the twitter team for restoring.”

He did not give any explanation about what may have caused the account to be compromised.

Mr Barr’s Twitter bio was also changed to include the fact the “Account is not live monitored”.

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With the Federal Government developing a new cybersecurity strategy amid growing fears of data breaches, this incident highlights the importance of protecting personal information and ensuring sufficient security measures are in place.

The Australian Cyber Security Centre’s current guidance offers five tips to keep personal accounts safe from cybercriminals:

  1. Keep devices updated as software updates often include security upgrades.
  2. Turn on multi-factor authentication for email, social media and online banking accounts.
  3. Keep a digital backup of your information in case information is lost, stolen or damaged.
  4. Set secure passphrases that are long, unique and unpredictable.
  5. Watch out for scams and be vigilant of messages that ask you to share personal information or appear unusual, even if they seem to be from someone trustworthy.

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Anyone would know that the Twitter post is fake. Barr only knows how to spend money, not how to make it

HiddenDragon7:55 pm 26 Apr 23

Hacked by the future? – crypto rackets might be the answer for the ACT government when property-related revenue gouges run out.

Pretty bad hack

Could be the work of the Kelly boys, Ned and Dan, I heard they are into crypto scams now.

Capital Retro1:35 pm 26 Apr 23

Seriously, is this news?

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