Advertisement

Olympics, International Olympic Committee Twitter accounts hacked

The Twitter logo and binary cyber codes are seen in this illustration taken November 26, 2019. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic

Twitter said on Saturday that an official Twitter account of the Olympics and the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) media Twitter account had been hacked and temporarily locked.

The accounts were hacked through a third-party platform, a spokesperson for the social media platform said in an emailed statement, without giving further details.

“As soon as we were made aware of the issue, we locked the compromised accounts and are working closely with our partners to restore them,” the Twitter spokesperson said.

A spokesperson for the IOC separately said that the IOC was investigating the potential breach.

Click to play video: 'Twitter advises Android users to update their app'
Twitter advises Android users to update their app

Twitter also said Spanish soccer club FC Barcelona’s account faced a similar incident on Saturday.

Story continues below advertisement

“FC Barcelona will conduct a cybersecurity audit and will review all protocols and links with third party tools, in order to avoid such incidents,” the soccer club said in a tweet after the hack.

Last month, the official Twitter accounts of several U.S. National Football League (NFL) teams, including the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs, were hacked a few days ahead of the Super Bowl.

For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.

Get breaking National news

For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Earlier this month, some of Facebook’s official Twitter accounts were briefly compromised.

Click to play video: 'The top Canadian Twitter trends of 2019'
The top Canadian Twitter trends of 2019

Sponsored content

AdChoices