How Naoki Hiroshima lost his $50,000 twitter handle

[Vale46Rossi]

Naoki Hiroshima is the creator of Cocoyon and a developer for Echofon. This post originally appeared on Naoki’s Medium blog and has been republished with permission.

I had a rare Twitter username, @N. Yep, just one letter. I’ve been offered as much as $50,000 for it. People have tried to steal it. Password reset instructions are a regular sight in my email inbox.

As of today, I no longer control @N. I was extorted into giving it up.

While eating lunch on January 20, 2014, I received a text message from PayPal for one-time validation code. Somebody was trying to steal my PayPal account. I ignored it and continued eating.

Later in the day, I checked my email which uses my personal domain name (registered with GoDaddy) through Google Apps. I found the last message I had received was from GoDaddy with the subject “Account Settings Change Confirmation.” There was a good reason why that was the last one.

From: GoDaddy
To: <*****@*****.***> Naoki Hiroshima
Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2014 12:50:02 -0800
Subject: Account Settings Change Confirmation

Dear naoki hiroshima,

You are receiving this email because the Account Settings were modified for the following Customer Account:

XXXXXXXX

There will be a brief period before this request takes effect.

If these modifications were made without your consent, please log in to your account and update your security settings.

If you are unable to log in to your account or if unauthorized changes have been made to domain names associated with the account, please contact our customer support team for assistance: support@godaddy.com or (480) 505-8877.

Please note that Accounts are subject to our Universal Terms of Service.

Sincerely,
GoDaddy

I tried to log in to my GoDaddy account, but it didn’t work. I called GoDaddy and explained the situation. The representative asked me the last 6 digits of my credit card number as a method of verification.

This didn’t work because the credit card information had already been changed by an attacker. In fact, all of my information had been changed. I had no way to prove I was the real owner of the domain name.

The GoDaddy representative suggested that I fill out a case report on GoDaddy’s website using my government identification. I did that and was told a response could take up to 48 hours. I expected that this would be sufficient to prove my identity and ownership of the account.

Let The Extortion Begin

Most websites use email as a method of verification. If your email account is compromised, an attacker can easily reset your password on many other websites. By taking control of my domain name at GoDaddy, my attacker was able to control my email.

I soon realized, based on my previous experiences being attacked, that my coveted Twitter username was the target. Strangely, someone I don’t know sent me a Facebook message encouraging me to change my Twitter email address.

I assumed this was sent from the attacker but I changed it regardless. The Twitter account email address was now one which the attacker could not access.

The attacker tried to reset my Twitter password several times and found he couldn’t receive any of the reset emails because it took time for the change of my domain’s MX record, which controls the email domain server. The attacker opened issue #16134409 at Twitter’s Zendesk support page.

N, Jan 20 01:43 PM:

Twitter username: @n
Your email: *****@*****.***
Last sign in: December
Mobile number (optional): n/a
Anything else? (optional): I’m not receiving the password reset to my email, do you think you could manually send me one?

Twitter required the attacker to provide more information to proceed and the attacker gave up on this route.

I later learned that the attacker had compromised my Facebook account in order to bargain with me. I was horrified to learn what had happened when friends began asking me about strange behavior on my Facebook account.

I received an email from my attacker at last. The attacker attempted to extort me with the following message.

From: SOCIAL MEDIA KING
To: <*****@*****.***> Naoki Hiroshima
Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2014 15:55:43 -0800
Subject: Hello.

I’ve seen you spoke with an accomplice of mine, I would just like to inform you that you were correct, @N was the target. it appears extremely inactive, I would also like to inform you that your GoDaddy domains are in my possession, one fake purchase and they can be repossessed by godaddy and never seen again D:

I see you run quite a few nice websites so I have left those alone for now, all data on the sites has remained intact. Would you be willing to compromise? access to @N for about 5minutes while I swap the handle in exchange for your godaddy, and help securing your data?

Shortly thereafter, I received a response from GoDaddy.

From: change@godaddy.com
To: <*****@*****.***> Naoki Hiroshima
Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2014 17:49:41 -0800
Subject: Update [Incident ID: 21773161] — XXXXX.XXX

Unfortunately, Domain Services will not be able to assist you with your change request as you are not the current registrant of the domain name. As the registrar we can only make this type of change after verifying the consent of the registrant. You may wish to pursue one or more of the following options should you decide
to pursue this matter further:

1. Visit Whois Lookup | Domain Availability - Registration Information to locate the Whois record for the domain name and resolve the issue with the registrant directly.

2. Go to List of Approved Dispute Resolution Service Providers | ICANN to find an ICANN approved arbitration provider.

3. Provide the following link to your legal counsel for information on submitting legal documents to GoDaddy: Legal Agreement GoDaddy now considers this matter closed.

My claim was refused because I am not the “current registrant.” GoDaddy asked the attacker if it was ok to change account information, while they didn’t bother asking me if it was ok when the attacker did it. I was infuriated that GoDaddy had put the burden on the true owner.

A coworker of mine was able to connect me to a GoDaddy executive. The executive attempted to get the security team involved, but nothing has happened. Perhaps because of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

Then I received this follow-up from the attacker.

From: SOCIAL MEDIA KING
To: <*****@*****.***> Naoki Hiroshima
Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2014 18:50:16 -0800
Subject: …hello

Are you going to swap the handle? the godaddy account is ready to go. Password changed and a neutral email is linked to it.

I asked a friend of mine at Twitter what the chances of recovering the Twitter account were if the attacker took ownership. I remembered what had happened to @mat and concluded that giving up the account right away would be the only way to avoid an irreversible disaster. So I told the attacker:

From: <*****@*****.***> Naoki Hiroshima
To: SOCIAL MEDIA KING
Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2014 19:41:17 -0800
Subject: Re: …hello

I released @N. Take it right away.

I changed my username @N to @N_is_stolen for the first time since I registered it in early 2007. Goodbye to my problematic username, for now.

I received this response.

From: SOCIAL MEDIA KING
To: <*****@*****.***> Naoki Hiroshima
Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2014 19:44:02 -0800
Subject: RE: …hello

Thank you very much, your godaddy password is: V;Mz,3{;!’g&

if you’d like I can go into detail about how I was able to gain access to your godaddy, and how you can secure yourself

The attacker quickly took control of the username and I regained access to my GoDaddy account.

PayPal and GoDaddy Facilitated The Attack

I asked the attacker how my GoDaddy account was compromised and received this response:

From: SOCIAL MEDIA KING
To: <*****@*****.***> Naoki Hiroshima
Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2014 19:53:52 -0800
Subject: RE: …hello

- I called paypal and used some very simple engineering tactics to obtain the last four of your card (avoid this by calling paypal and asking the agent to add a note to your account to not release any details via phone)

- I called godaddy and told them I had lost the card but I remembered the last four, the agent then allowed me to try a range of numbers (00-09 in your case) I have not found a way to heighten godaddy account security, however if you’d like me to
recommend a more secure registrar i recommend: NameCheap or eNom (not network solutions but enom.com)

It’s hard to decide what’s more shocking, the fact that PayPal gave the attacker the last four digits of my credit card number over the phone, or that GoDaddy accepted it as verification. When asked about this, the attacker responded with this message:

From: SOCIAL MEDIA KING
To: <*****@*****.***> Naoki Hiroshima
Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2014 20:00:31 -0800
Subject: RE: …hello

Yes paypal told me them over the phone (I was acting as an employee) and godaddy let me “guess” for the first two digits of the card

But guessing 2 digits correctly isn’t that easy, right?

From: SOCIAL MEDIA KING
To: <*****@*****.***> Naoki Hiroshima
Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2014 20:09:21 -0800
Subject: RE: …hello

I got it in the first call, most agents will just keep trying until they get it

He was lucky that he only had to guess two numbers and was able to do it in a single call. The thing is, GoDaddy allowed him to keep trying until he nailed it. Insane. Sounds like I was dealing with a wannabe Kevin Mitnick—it’s as though companies have yet to learn from his Mitnick’s exploits circa 1995.

Avoid Custom Domains for Your Login Email Address

With my GoDaddy account restored, I was able to regain access to my email as well. I changed the email address I use at several web services to an @gmail.com address. Using my Google Apps email address with a custom domain feels nice but it has a chance of being stolen if the domain server is compromised. If I were using an @gmail.com email address for my Facebook login, the attacker would not have been able to access my Facebook account.

If you are using your Google Apps email address to log into various websites, I strongly suggest you stop doing so. Use an @gmail.com for logins. You can use the nicer custom domain email for messaging purposes, I still do.

In addition, I also strongly suggest you to use a longer TTL for the MX record, just in case. It was 1 hour TTL in my case and that’s why I didn’t have enough time to keep receiving emails to the compromised domain after losing the DNS control. If it was a week-long TTL for example, I would have had a greater chance to recover the stolen accounts.

Using two-factor authentication is a must. It’s probably what prevented the attacker from logging into my PayPal account. Though this situation illustrates that even two-factor authentication doesn’t help for everything.

Conclusion

Stupid companies may give out your personal information (like part of your credit card number) to the wrong person. Some of those companies are still employing the unacceptable practice of verifying you with the last some digits of your credit card.

To avoid their imprudence from destroying your digital life, don’t let companies such as PayPal and GoDaddy store your credit card information. I just removed mine. I’ll also be leaving GoDaddy and PayPal as soon as possible.

Editor’s Note: The Next Web has reached out to GoDaddy, PayPal, and Twitter for comment.

– A PayPal represent tells us that the company is looking into the issue.

– A Twitter spokesperson tells us: “While we don’t comment on individual accounts, we are investigating the report.”

– A statement provided to us from GoDaddy reads: “We take customer security very seriously and are investigating this issue.”

Source: How I Lost My $50,000 Twitter Username

[SupraTTturbo2jz]

wow, that hacker is a huge nerd...going through all that trouble just for the handle.

[SkinnyPupp]

2FA... I enabled it on all my important accounts

[jeedee]

"I’ve been offered as much as $50,000 for it. People have tried to steal it. Password reset instructions are a regular sight in my email inbox.

As of today, I no longer control @N. I was extorted into giving it up."
--



Should've taken the money dumbass

[mr_chin]

The stuff people would do for online identity, both the owner and the hacker.

The hacker won unfortunately, because the owner is too "prideful" of his/her "username".

Should have taken the $50k and get on with his/her life outside of the web.

While we're at it, anyone wanna by my username at revscene? $10.

[StylinRed]

what a ridiculous story can't believe someone would bother, and can't twitter just disable the account now as an ultimate shouldn't they?

Originally Posted by SupraTTturbo2jz

wow, that hacker is a huge nerd...going through all that trouble just for the handle.

that's why he wanted a big fat N for his handle

Originally Posted by SkinnyPupp

2FA... I enabled it on all my important accounts

It sounds like 2FA would be useless in this case since he went the route of account recovery?
This older (last may) article says that 2FA is still vulnerable to account recovery thieves
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-575...d-to-know-faq/

How is 2FA vulnerable to hackers?

To hack two-factor authentication, the bad guys must acquire either the physical component of the log-in, or must gain access to the cookies or tokens placed on the device by the authentication mechanism. This can happen in several ways, including a phishing attack, malware, or credit card-reader skimming. There is a another way, however: account recovery.

If you remember what happened to journalist Mat Honan, his accounts were compromised by leveraging the "account recovery" feature. Account recovery resets your current password and e-mails you a temporary one so that you can log in again.

"One of the biggest problems that's not adequately solved is recovery," said Duo Security's Oberheide.

Account recovery works as a tool for breaking two-factor authentication because it "bypasses" 2FA entirely, Fenton explained. "Just after [the Honan story was published], I created a Google account, created 2FA on it, then pretended to lose my data."

Fenton continued: "Account recovery took some extra time, but three days later I got an e-mail helpfully explaining that 2FA had been disabled on my account." After that, he was able to log back into the account without 2FA.

Account recovery is not a problem without a solution, though. Or, at least, solutions are being worked on.

"I see biometrics as an interesting way to solve the recovery problem," Oberheide said. "If I lost my phone, it would take forever to go through each account and recover them. If there's a very strong biometric recovery method, a passcode of my choosing, and a voice challenge or something like that, it becomes a very reasonable and usable recovery mechanism."

Basically, he's suggesting using one form of two-factor for logging in, and a second, different two-factor combo for recovery.

[Noir]

Originally Posted by jeedee

"I’ve been offered as much as $50,000 for it. People have tried to steal it. Password reset instructions are a regular sight in my email inbox.

As of today, I no longer control @N. I was extorted into giving it up."
--



Should've taken the money dumbass

Originally Posted by mr_chin

The stuff people would do for online identity, both the owner and the hacker.

The hacker won unfortunately, because the owner is too "prideful" of his/her "username".

Should have taken the $50k and get on with his/her life outside of the web.

While we're at it, anyone wanna by my username at revscene? $10.

How sure are you that the offer of 50K is legit or just one of the ploys to steal his account?

[Mr.Money]

i like how the guy didn't bother getting any Legal forces involved and kept it hush hush to himself

[SkinnyPupp]

If someone made a legit offer to pay $50K for his twitter name, he essentially paid that amount to keep it. Who really cares, it's just a god damn twitter name

[bcrdukes]

So, what's your password, SkinnyPupp?

[westopher]

I don't know if there is anything in the world less interesting than this story.

[underscore]

Did buddy not bother asking why he wanted @N anyways?

Also using the last 4 digits or the first 2 digits of a CC for verification is retarded, the last 4 are the only ones never blanked out even when your full CC # isn't stored, and the first 2 are just dependent on the type of card (Mastercard, VISA) IIRC. It doesn't surprise me that GoDaddy sucks at security and account access seeing as they've seemed to suck at everything else in the past.

[buddy]

Originally Posted by SkinnyPupp

Who really cares, it's just a god damn twitter name

@Nough said

[RRxtar]

Aren't all the emails from the hacker enough to get this guy his shit back legally? And maybe. Go after the hacker?
Posted via RS Mobile

[Phil@rise]

perhaps that nerd just made 50k sellin the handle

[Ulic Qel-Droma]

who the hell is he? and why the fuck is this news LOL wtf...

[JaPoola]

Good social engineering skills... then again call centre employees aren't the sharpest tools...

[falcon]

lol @ this whole "worth $50k" BS. Nothing is worth anything until you take money for it. He paid zero so it's worth zero. Until he sells. He never did... and that's his own fault.

Just like all these guys saying they "made" thousands of dollars with Bitcoin. Yet they still own the bitcoins. There is no value until you cash out.

[Manic!]

This has become one of the top read news stories on BBC.

BBC News - Rare Twitter username 'stolen'

[stewie]

I've never used twitter before...so what's so special about "@N"???

Side note - I've had the same hotmail account for 10+ years. It's *myname*@hotmail...

Last year the password was changed on me. Same password for 10+ years, so I used account recovery with a spare email account to get the password sent to me. Had the same password just different upper and lower case letters....again, password was changed.

I called their customer service number and told them what happened. I didn't even need to prove I was the owner...I sounded pissed off and told the guy I had several emails on there that I desperately needed...just like that the Indian guy(could tell from his accent) simply gave me a new password and then told me to change the password upon logging in and he's sorry for the inconvenience and to have a nice day.... Quite easy lol... Wouldn't be surprised if I could do that to someone else's email...


-edit-

Read another article just now saying that PayPal denied that it would give out his credit card details. Wouldn't they have a log of the call? Aren't most calls recorded? (Or do they just say that to try and keep people from flipping out while speaking)

[Happy]

Originally Posted by falcon

lol @ this whole "worth $50k" BS. Nothing is worth anything until you take money for it. He paid zero so it's worth zero. Until he sells. He never did... and that's his own fault.

So you're telling me, if I have a business that's doubling it's profits every single year, say in the millions, it's not worth anything until I sell it?
Posted via RS Mobile

[Manic!]

Originally Posted by Happy

So you're telling me, if I have a business that's doubling it's profits every single year, say in the millions, it's not worth anything until I sell it?
Posted via RS Mobile

You are making a profit so that means you have income coming in. Was his twitter handle making him money?

[SkinnyPupp]

Originally Posted by falcon

lol @ this whole "worth $50k" BS. Nothing is worth anything until you take money for it. He paid zero so it's worth zero. Until he sells. He never did... and that's his own fault.

Just like all these guys saying they "made" thousands of dollars with Bitcoin. Yet they still own the bitcoins. There is no value until you cash out.

Disagree with that analogy, as if you have $50K worth of bitcoin, you can easily go spend it on a wide variety of things

[underscore]

Originally Posted by SkinnyPupp

Disagree with that analogy, as if you have $50K worth of bitcoin, you can easily go spend it on a wide variety of things

Except $50k worth of bitcoins today could end up being $5 worth of bitcoins tomorrow.

[AzNightmare]

So is there an @A @B @C, etc.?
I don't use Twitter. So confused why is this @N so special?
Posted via RS Mobile