The CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Binance has addressed the recent Twitter hack that saw attack hijack dozens of high-profile accounts to promote a fake bitcoin giveaway, claiming it was “net positive” for crypto.
Over a series of tweets, the CEO of one of the leading cryptocurrency trading platforms argued the microblogging platform’s security incident was a “massive advertising campaign for bitcoin,” as some of the most popular accounts on the platform tweeted about cryptocurrency.
Looking on the positive side, I believe this unfortunate incident is a net positive for crypto. It raises awareness for the need for stronger security on internet platforms, something we, the industry players, have been asking for for a while.
— CZ Binance (@cz_binance) July 17, 2020
Per Zhao, the incident also helped educate the public on not falling for online scams, as even if someone’s favorite idol asks for donations users should verify before sending over any funds. In his tweetstorm, Zhao noted that narratives promoting bitcoin was hacked or scammed anyone were misleading.
Instead, the CEO pointed out Twitter itself was hacked, and that the incident highlights a bigger issue: that with increasing cryptocurrency adoption “existing social and internet platforms need to revamp their security. Internet platforms are no longer just for selfies, it is used to transfer value.
He added:
Most platforms today aren’t equipped to deal with crypto securely. Twitter is targeted first because it has a more active crypto community. There are plenty of “scams wanting crypto” on other platforms. Youtube/Google Ads, Facebook, etc.
— CZ Binance (@cz_binance) July 17, 2020
Zhao added that Twitter “has some securities issues,” but that most other platforms have “relaxed security measures” which include the lack of two-factor authentication methods, support for hardware keys, and more. Google, he said, is “probably the strongest in terms of account security.”
The search giant still allows scammers to run ads on its search results and networks, he added, with YouTube being a “nightmare.” As CryptoGlobe reported hackers have been hijacking popular YouTubers to run cryptocurrency scams on the video-sharing platform, using livestreams to fake cryptocurrency giveaways.
The scams got so bad that Ripple and its CEO sued YouTube for failing to stop XRP giveaway scammers from tricking users into handing over their cryptoassets. Zhao noted that these platforms need to “quickly move to a zero-trust security architecture” where compromised employees are not able to make account take-overs.
Featured image by 🇨🇭 Claudio Schwarz | @purzlbaum on Unsplash.
