The New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) has proposed regulating the social media giants, finding that cybersecurity protections at Twitter are grossly inadequate.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has asked DFS to investigate Twitter following a massive hack on July 15, 2020, of accounts belonging to prominent figures on the platform , as well as several cryptocurrency.
According to a report released yesterday about the investigation, the global social media platform lacks adequate cybersecurity protections and did not have a dedicated threat intelligence team at the time of the malicious attack.
DFS found that hackers gained access to Twitter's systems simply by calling Twitter employees and claiming to be from the company's IT department, then requesting potential victims' login credentials
Using this unsophisticated attack strategy, cybercriminals hacked into Twitter accounts of politicians, celebrities, and businesspeople, including Barack Obama, Kim Kardashian, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk , and several DFS-regulated cryptocurrency companies.
According to the DFS, the massive Twitter hack demonstrates the need for strong cybersecurity, so that the chances of breaches of large social media companies are reduced.
Furthermore, the released report proposed the creation of a new regulatory framework for cybersecurity concerning social media giants such as Facebook and Twitter. Currently, the cybersecurity policies and programs of such companies are not overseen by any federal or state regulator who ensures that these policies and programs adequately address the risks of their digital operating models.
Linda Lacewell, the financial services inspector general, said companies like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have had the ability to be regulated for some time. She added that these companies' platforms, and others like them, have quickly become the main source of news and information, yet no regulator has adequate oversight of cybersecurity.
According to Lacewell, the poor and insufficient cybersecurity on extremely important social media platforms that increasingly dictate what content is notable, could potentially allow hackers to interfere in the US presidential elections to be held on November 3. Specifically, Lacewell noted that as the elections approach, greater regulatory oversight of large social media companies is necessary, as the integrity of elections and markets depends on it.
Finally, the report states that, given their millions of users and the enormous power of the news media, social media companies should be “defined as systemically important institutions with prudent regulation for managing the increased risk in cybersecurity».
