Montgomery Council’s Twitter Account May Have Been Briefly Hacked

A Bethesda Beat article (2018-05-29) reported that Montgomery County Council staff believe the Council’s twitter account was hacked after a questionable message was posted by the account on May 29. The issue highlights the challenge county governments face in providing communication platforms that are easy for the public to access but also secure from outside tampering.

The article indicated that one tweet was briefly posted questioning different media accounts about the death toll caused by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico and included offensive language. The tweets were removed about five minutes after they were posted. Council staff are continuing to investigate. From the article:

[Council spokesperson Susan] Kenedy said staff members don’t have any evidence that any other social media accounts were hacked but secured them with new passwords as a precaution. They do not believe a county employee was involved in posting the initial message.

Useful Links

Montgomery County Council Web Page

The MACo Summer Conference’s Tech Expo will feature a session on cybersecurity from Wednesday, August 15, 2018, from 12:45 pm – 1:45 pm.

  • All Hands on Deck: Cybersecurity for County Government
  • County government networks possess a wealth of valuable personal information, including Social Security numbers, tax ID numbers, health information, and other sensitive data. This makes county government employees at every level potential targets for online pirates looking to steal sensitive information. Even well-meaning and internet-savvy employees may fall prey to inappropriate release of data…with multiple consequences. Learn from Maryland’s leading cybersecurity firms how counties can work together to keep fast all data, including personal information.

Learn more about MACo’s Summer Conference: