TikTok Admits Exploit on High-Profile Accounts

The security team at Tiktok is tackling a breach that let hackers access high-profile celebrity and brand accounts, including Paris Hilton, CNN, and Sony, on its video platform

The video application developer, which ByteDance owns, refrained from divulging details regarding the attack’s characteristics or the company’s mitigation strategies.

Instead, the company stated that it had implemented preventative measures to halt the attack and its recurrence.

The vicious assault, previously documented by Semafor and Forbes, seems to have been executed via malware that was distributed via direct messages (D.M.s) on TikTok.

Consequently, the account holders’ capability to access their TikTok profiles might have been compromised. The hacker’s intentions were initially obscure, given that none of the compromised accounts had commenced publishing content.

Semafor reports that a criminal breached CNN’s account last week, necessitating the account’s inaccessibility for multiple days.

The news organization stated that it was collaborating with TikTok to implement further security measures to safeguard the account in the coming days, including throughout the U.S. presidential elections.

When queried for comment, TikTok declined to provide additional information regarding the attack’s characteristics or corresponding countermeasures, citing concerns over “tipping off” potential malicious actors.

A spokesperson stated, “Our security team is aware of a potential exploit that targets several high-profile accounts.” “Strikes have been implemented to halt this assault and preempt its recurrence.”

We are, if necessary, working directly with affected account holders to restore access.”

The assaults occur at a moment when the influence of TikTok in the United States is being questioned.

As a result of the bill’s passage in April, President Biden, citing national security concerns, mandated that ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok, sell the application or face a prohibition on operations within the United States.

When the law goes into effect, it will be unlawful for app stores to distribute TikTok if ByteDance fails to sell.

Since TikTok has filed suit against the U.S. government for the law above, the proceedings are expected to drag on for several months.

Donald Trump, an early critic of TikTok and the first president to attempt to prohibit the app in the United States, has since begun using the application for political purposes.