The official Instagram account of the White House, previously associated with the former President of the United States barack obamahas been leaked, TMZ reports.
The vulnerability was discovered on Sunday when a number of atypical posts and memes appeared on the account, which has the username @obamawhitehouse.
The most eye-catching post showed an AI-generated image with a caption that translated: “ White House under Shia control, TMZ reports.
Additionally, the hackers allegedly uploaded new Instagram Stories to the account, which has 2.4 million followers.
Instagram parent company Meta confirms account security
A spokesperson for Instagram parent company Meta confirmed the breach to TMZ and said the account has been protected and all unauthorized content has been removed.
TMZ reports that the last real post on the account was posted on January 20, 2017, coinciding with the presidential inauguration Donald Trump.
The identity of the individual or group responsible for the hack has not yet been disclosed.
Obama also has a unique personal Instagram account with the username @barackobama, which has 42.2 million followers.
A quick look back at the past
Nonetheless, Obama’s White House account was earlier compromised in an attack in July 2020, and the accounts of Joe Biden, Bill Gates and Elon Musk were also affected, according to the Daily Mail.
Account belongs to gates and Musk Offer Bitcoin payments to their followers.
As a result, Twitter (now known as X) imposed temporary restrictions on verified accounts.
The FBI told NBC News at the time that it was aware of a “security incident involving several individuals.” twitter accounts belonging to high-profile individuals,” and recognized that the hackers appeared to aim to “perpetuate cryptocurrency fraud.”
“We advise the public not to fall victim to this scam by sending cryptocurrency or money in connection with this incident,” the agency said.
In this case, Joseph James O’Connor, a hacker from the United Kingdom, pleaded guilty in the United States to charges including computer intrusion, wire fraud, and extortion and was sentenced to five years in prison in 2023.
He was arrested in Spain in 2021, and was subsequently extradited to the United States after the Spanish High Court determined that the United States was the most appropriate venue for prosecution because of the evidence and victims there.
