Facebook’s Twitter account was hacked Friday, apparently by a Saudi-based group that has been active in exposing vulnerabilities among high-profile social media users.
The group, OurMine, tweeted out a message on Facebook’s account that pointed the social network’s 13.4 million followers to its website. The organization claimed credit for the takeover in an email to NBC News.
“Well even Facebook is hackable but at least their security is better than Twitter,” the hackers tweeted just before 7 p.m. They said businesses interested in improving online security should visit OurMine’s website.
The tweet was quickly taken down. Facebook later tweeted that it had regained control of the account.
OurMine said in an email that the tweet was up for about 15 minutes.
“Yes we are taking credit for the hack,” the group said.
While OurMine is usually described as a group of hackers, it said its security services are “for profit.” Its social media takeovers have received widespread attention.
On Jan. 27, before the Super Bowl, OurMine claimed responsibility for hijacking the social media accounts of the National Football League and several of its teams. Victims included the winning Kansas City Chiefs.
The Twitter account of the losing 49ers was also hijacked, but no tweets were published. The team said in a statement, “We are aware of the issue and are working with NFL cybersecurity and the platforms to address it.”
OurMine calls itself a benevolent, “white hat” endeavor.
“We have no bad intentions and only care about the security and privacy of your accounts and network,” it said on its website.
The group said previously that it chooses targets for hacking “randomly.”
