Social media accounts originally belonging to the deceased were recently observed promoting pro-Putin messages in Russia. The Russian social network, VK (formerly Vkontakte), reported that accounts were hacked. Social media accounts whose owners are no longer living and other abandoned accounts with weak password security were used in this campaign. Because they were deceased or abandoned accounts, account owners could not react to possible security warnings. Social media networks have different processes for deactivating deceased users. Abandoned accounts may be especially vulnerable to brute force attacks and may later be used in malware or disinformation campaigns. This use of hacked accounts poses a risk of international-level account hijacking on a variety of social media networks...READ MORE
Wapack Labs has cataloged and reported on social media hijacking in the past. An archive of related reporting can be found in the Red Sky Alliance portal.
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