Application security, Threat Management, Threat Management

Turkish hacktivist group hijacks ex-sheriff David Clarke Jr.’s Twitter account

The same Turkish hacktivist group that last week took over the Twitter accounts of conservative media figures Greta Van Susteren, Eric Bolling, and Brit Hume has chosen former Milwaukee County, Wis., sheriff David Clarke, Jr., a prominent Donald Trump supporter, as its latest target.

Various news outlets have reported that the hacker group Ayyildiz Tim posted a message on Clarke's page on Jan. 22, announcing that it had compromised his Twitter account and his private direct messages. “Your account is hacked by the Turkish cyber army AYYILDIZ TIM! Your DM correspondence has been captured and interesting information has been reached! Turks are everywhere!” the tweet boasted, according to the reports.

The hackers also changed Clarke's page background to include their official logo, which includes the phrase Sessizce Nöbetteyiz," or "We Are Silently Guarded." Clarke's account was reportedly restored within a couple of hours of the unauthorized post.

Clarke also made news on Monday after a federal jury ruled the ex-lawman did not violate the free speech of Daniel Black, a man who had been a target of the ex-lawman's taunting Facebook posts. Black said he was briefly detained by Clarke's deputies following a flight from Dallas to Milwaukee, after the plaintiff shook his head at the defendant, apparently for wearing Cowboys paraphernalia prior to a playoff game between Dallas and Green Bay. Clarke then reportedly followed this encounter with posts that called Black a "snowflake" and stated that Black "wouldn't be around to whine" if Clarke truly intended to cause him trouble.

Bradley Barth

As director of multimedia content strategy at CyberRisk Alliance, Bradley Barth develops content for online conferences, webcasts, podcasts video/multimedia projects — often serving as moderator or host. For nearly six years, he wrote and reported for SC Media as deputy editor and, before that, senior reporter. He was previously a program executive with the tech-focused PR firm Voxus. Past journalistic experience includes stints as business editor at Executive Technology, a staff writer at New York Sportscene and a freelance journalist covering travel and entertainment. In his spare time, Bradley also writes screenplays.

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