It's the second time in four months that Twitter Counter has allowed hackers to post messages to high-profile Twitter accounts Credit: Screenshot by IDG News Service Twitter Counter, a third-party analytics service, appears once again to have provided a gateway for hackers to post messages to high-profile Twitter accounts.An unlikely number of Twitter users suddenly learned to speak Turkish on Wednesday, posting an inflammatory message in the language replete with Nazi swastikas.Among those posting the message were the Twitter accounts of Forbes magazine, the Atlanta Police Department, and Amnesty International, one of the few hacked accounts one might expect to speak Turkish.Fears that these accounts had all been hacked were quickly allayed, when Twitter identified a third-party app as being to blame. “We are aware of an issue affecting a small number of account holders this morning. Our teams worked at pace and took direct action. We quickly located the source which was limited to a third party app. We removed its permissions immediately. No additional accounts are impacted,” a Twitter spokesman said via email.It’s usually hard to measure the impact of such hacktivist attacks, but counting the consequences may be easier this time around. Although Twitter did not name the app involved, the independent Twitter Counter service soon outed itself. “We’re aware that our service was hacked and have started an investigation into the matter. We’ve already taken measures to contain such abuse,” the company tweeted.Assuming that the abuse was going through its system, it said, “We’ve blocked all ability to post tweets and changed our Twitter app key.”A Twitter Counter spokesman referred questions to the company’s CEO, Omer Ginor, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment.It’s barely four months since Twitter Counter was last hacked, an attack that resulted in postings to high-profile accounts including those of Playstation, Viacom, Xbox, Charlie Sheen and Lionel Messi, the company said at the time.“The attackers used a mechanism to hack the cookies used by the website, so that they can, one by one, make the system believe they’re logged in as a specific user and therefore be able to take the actions we allow users to take on our site, such as posting,” Ginor said in his analysis of the incident that took place last November.Add a comment to our Facebook about this hack. Related content news Multibillion-dollar cybersecurity training market fails to fix the supply-demand imbalance Despite money pouring into programs around the world, training organizations have not managed to ensure employment for professionals, while entry-level professionals are finding it hard to land a job By Samira Sarraf Oct 02, 2023 6 mins CSO and CISO CSO and CISO CSO and CISO news Royal family’s website suffers Russia-linked cyberattack Pro-Russian hacker group KillNet took responsibility for the attack days after King Charles condemned the invasion of Ukraine. By Michael Hill Oct 02, 2023 2 mins DDoS Cyberattacks feature 10 things you should know about navigating the dark web A lot can be found in the shadows of the internet from sensitive stolen data to attack tools for sale, the dark web is a trove of risks for enterprises. Here are a few things to know and navigate safely. By Rosalyn Page Oct 02, 2023 13 mins Cybercrime Security news ShadowSyndicate Cybercrime gang has used 7 ransomware families over the past year Researchers from Group-IB believe it's likely the group is an independent affiliate working for multiple ransomware-as-a-service operations By Lucian Constantin Oct 02, 2023 4 mins Hacker Groups Ransomware Cybercrime Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe