RIVIERA BEACH, Fla. — Hackers have targeted the City of Riviera Beach’s Fire Rescue Department’s Twitter page. It was discovered earlier this week and is contained only to the department’s Twitter page, according to a spokesperson.
“Right now, we’re currently locked out of the Twitter account,” Riviera Beach Fire Rescue spokesperson DaWayne Watson told Contact 5. “I’m trying to pull up our Twitter page, it says the account doesn’t exist.”
Watson showed Contact 5 what’s left of his department’s page which has a new name, logo, posts and even previous posts. The intruder is named Bitcoinsensus and promotes investing in crypto-currency.
He said the department had been using two-step authentication for its Twitter account as a precaution when the hack occurred.
“Every day they’re putting things out in reference to bitcoins and how they are used and managed and the currency exchange which is obviously something the City of Riviera Beach Fire Rescue does not do,” Watson said.
The latest hack comes more than two years after the city council authorized its insurance carrier to pay about $600,000 in Bitcoin ransom to recover data following a cyber-attack.
The city also reportedly spent close to a million dollars on cyber security enhancements and updating computers.
A city spokesperson told Contact 5 it did not include social media accounts that they can't control.
Watson says so far, the department has not received any demands for ransom and is working with Twitter to try to regain control of the important page.
“We use our Twitter page as one or our main platforms so that we can ensure the safety and well-being of every citizen in the of Riviera Beach,” Watson said.
Fire Rescue will utilize the city’s Twitter page, @Rivierabch to share any important information with the community until this issue is resolved.
Contact 5 reached out to the company now listed on the Twitter page for comment and we have not heard back.
