Jason Delgado
Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis announced late Thursday he intends to ask the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate Wednesday’s high-profile Twitter hacks.
While details remain few on the hack, the Twitter breach impacted both high-profile individuals and major companies including Apple, former President Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Kanye West and Michael Bloomberg, all of whom posted similar Tweets that encouraged users to send them bitcoin for a larger return.
The massive breach prompted Twitter to temporarily lockdown the accounts of verified users.
“Based on what we know right now, we believe approximately 130 accounts were targeted by the attackers in some way as part of the incident,” Twitter announced Thursday. “For a small subset of these accounts, the attackers were able to gain control of the accounts and then send Tweets from those accounts.”
During an interview with Newsmax’s Sean Spicer, Patronis said he has major security concerns about Florida’s vulnerabilities to cyber threats.
“Important info flows on Twitter and to have Elon Musk, Bill Gates and Barack Obama hacked is dangerous,” Patronis told Spicer. “One tweet can send our nation’s economy into a tailspin and as CFO, I have a fiduciary responsibility to FL taxpayers to understand these risks.”
Patronis urged Floridians to use caution and immediately report instances of fraud.
“If major companies like Apple and billionaire celebrities like Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos can fall victim to hacks, so can you,” Patronis said. “That is why it is vital to constantly monitor your personal and business accounts for signs of fraud and report it immediately at FraudFreeFlorida.com. Always remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”
He also offered several tips to help Floridians protect their financial information.
Those tips include regularly checking credit card activity and periodically reviewing credit reports.
Credit reports are available free of charge from each of the three national credit reporting agencies once a year.
Additionally, Patronis recommends credit freezes in certain instances.
“If you believe you’ve been the victim of identity theft or as an additional precaution, consider placing a free credit freeze on your credit file with each of the three credit reporting agencies to further prevent unauthorized activity,” Patronis said.
2 comments
Booner
July 17, 2020 at 2:20 pm
Whoa!
The FDLE announces through Sean Spicer on right wing Newsmax that Florida must investigate the Twitter hacks of Billionaires. What?? As if Florida has any special connection to these A List individuals, because they don’t.
Patronis is laying the groundwork for something else, it appears. Perhaps there will be an October or November surprise. Or Trump has told him to titillate his base of cultists.
Florida voters are wising up to the flim-flam out of Tallahassee. Trump has put pressure on the state GOP because it looks like he will lose big in Florida come November.
Trump’s morons will continue their dirty tricks as they try to scare and confuse people. The silence from Rubio says a lot. (He is either bought off or blackmailed, same as national figures such as Barr, Pompeo, McConnell, Cotton, Ernst, Graham, et al. )
Why doesn’t Patronis investigate the false, deceptive, or unavailable Covid-19 test data peddled by Gov. DeSantis, which many across the US medical community have noticed and questioned?
Hey Patronis, while you’re at it — Why not an investigation on how the state of Florida callously allowed Employment Security to fall apart for millions of Floridians, and how Rick Scott was making sure to deliberately cripple payouts to the unemployed for many years? Where is the Scott employment debacle investigation, Mr Patronis?
There is no trust or truth left from these clowns. For Patronis to peddle this distraction FOR NO REASON smells fishy. You know its a set up for something down the road designed to hurt Democrats or protect Trump.
Engaged Florida voters will know better than to believe anything out of Tallahassee or Washington DC when they cast their votes. Patronis may as well start planning his going away party now as he has failed to enforce Florida’s constitution or protect its residents.
Booner
July 17, 2020 at 2:31 pm
Just to clarify— Patronis is State CFO, in charge of protecting the interest of Billionaires first and foremost, using Trump affiliate propaganda machine Newsmax and “sprightly” Sean Spicer asking FDLE to investigate the Twitter hack.
It is a laughable PR stunt by Trump cultists desperate to distract and cover up the disaster of Florida’s Covid-19 response, closed businesses, and unemployment payments debacle.
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