Cybercriminals are targeting verified “Gold” accounts on the social media service X (formerly Twitter), selling them on the Dark Web for up to $2,000 each, according to research by CloudSEK.
The Gold badge signifies independent verification by X for high-profile organizations or celebrities.
Hackers use various methods, including brute-forcing passwords and stealing credentials, to gain access to Gold accounts. Non-gold accounts associated with inactive real organizations are also being upgraded to verified status.
These compromised accounts, with large followings, are sold on the Dark Web for malicious activities such as hosting phishing links, launching disinformation campaigns, financial scams, or damaging brand reputation. Attackers took over the X account of Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, siphoning off $691,000 in digital assets within 20 minutes.
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Organizations should regularly monitor brand mentions on X, implement strong password policies, and be vigilant against account compromise.
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