Activists from Venezuela to Bahrain are falling victim to a devious new account hack, according to a report from the digital rights group Access Now. Called a “DoubleSwitch” attack, the hack begins with a simple account takeover, but is followed by a number of name changes designed to cover the attacker’s tracks and bewilder followers.
Once a given twitter account (say @russellbrandom) has been taken over, DoubleSwitch attackers will move the existing account to a new screenname (say, @fake_russell) and then establish a new account at the original screenname, often using the same profile picture and display name. When the target attempts to recover their account, they’ll go to the original screenname, which is now registered to the...
