Dixie D’Amelio, Famous TikTok Star’s Account Has Been Hacked
Along with her younger sister Charli D’Amelio, Dixie D’Amelio is one of the most well-known TikTok stars in the world. The pair is well-known for their wide variety of video blogs, podcasts, TikTok dances, and attempts at video games and make-up tutorials. Unfortunately, Dixie’s TikTok account was hacked in December 2020, and a strange series of confusing videos were posted to her account. One of the videos also included someone pulling out a gun. It’s interesting to note that her father, Marc D’Amelio, was also hacked online at this time, as they published a string of videos on his TikTok account. This only emphasizes the growing importance of cybersecurity in today’s world.
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Who Hacked Famous TikTok Star’s Dixie D’Amelio’s Account?
The TikTok account of Dixie D’Amelio, one of the app’s greatest stars, was hacked in December 2020 by a group renowned for hacking the Twitter accounts of Twitter’s CEO and social-media influencers. Additionally, the hacker/s posted a number of videos to Dixie’s account between the two days they had access to the account; however, the account was removed after this. Fortunately, the videos that the hacker posted were removed promptly, and Dixie’s account was restored fairly quickly. Marc D’Amelio, D’Amelio’s father, was also hacked on the same day; however, his account was back to normal due to the efforts made by TikTok. On TikTok, D’Amelio currently has 57.4 million followers.
A TikTok spokesperson said that after the D’Amelios contacted them, they promptly locked their accounts to avoid any misuse and that TikTok worked with them to further protect their accounts going forward. The “Chuckling Squad,” a well-known group of hackers that took control of the CEO of Twitter Jack Dorsey’s Twitter account in 2019, was mentioned in one of the videos the hacker shared on Sunday night. Several of the clips also made mention of the “Lucifer” Instagram account. At the time of the hack, D’Amelio herself was the user’s follower on Instagram. In the messages, “Lucifer” claimed that the “Chuckling Squad” was behind the breach. The user claimed they were “friends of friends,” not members of the organization.
The “Chuckling Squad” is well-known for its use of the SIM swapping hacking technique, in which a mobile carrier is tricked into switching the phone number connected to the victim’s account into a number that the hackers use. Therefore, the mention of “SMS” in the video they posted on her account suggested that the organization employed the same strategy to hijack the D’Amelio accounts. The scary thing is that cybercriminals don’t even try to be subtle anymore. In respect of Dixie’s case, the suspected hacker initially posted a video of a mouse bench pressing a trap, and the caption was “Preparing to hack Dixie.” How can you protect yourself from a cyber-attack when hackers are so open about this? Ideally, you need to have adequate cybersecurity systems in place so that hackers can’t get into your personal accounts in the first place.
Several social media personalities’ Twitter accounts, including those of James Charles, a beauty YouTuber, King Bach, Shane Dawson, and Amanda Cerny, were previously hacked by the same organization. Accounts of well-known creators are frequently hacked by the “Chuckling Squad” across all social media platforms.
When word spread that the father-daughter pair had been attacked by hackers, various members of the internet community voiced their opinions about the situation.
Given that Dixie D’Amelio follows the hacker online and that it was the same person who hacked Addison Rae’s TikTok account, some even thought that the whole thing might have been a publicity ploy. The remainder of the people voiced surprise, worry, and some humor in response to the peculiar hack.
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Why Did Charli D’Amelio Lock Her Account After This?
After the hack took place, Charli D’Amelio also locked her TikTok account. Charli explained to her followers in a video posted by tiktoktoom on Instagram that she was locked out of her account at the time to stop anything else from occurring to the family’s TikTok accounts. This was an essential step to protect herself from a cyber-attack as well.
The Importance of Cybersecurity
This hack only emphasizes the importance of cybersecurity. In a post, the hacker stated that Dixie’s account was extremely easy to hack as her password was simply her name. Fundamentally, there is no sign that the technological dependence of our society will decrease. Data dumps involving identity theft are now publicly disclosed on social media platforms, as was the case with Dixie’s account. The truth is that everyone uses phones on a daily basis, whether they are individuals, small businesses, or giant multinationals. There is a wide range of possible security risks that weren’t present a few decades ago. Social media has also grown in popularity and hacking is an everyday occurrence. Adequate cybersecurity measures need to be taken to protect yourself from a cyber-attack.
@dixiedamelio #spotifypartner let’s #getreadywithmusic on @Spotify ♬ original sound – dixie
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Final Thoughts
In today’s day and age, cybersecurity is vital. Dixie’s fans are happier than ever knowing that she got her TikTok account back and that they can keep enjoying her videos! However, some people aren’t always as lucky, which is why you should always aim to protect yourself from a cyber-attack in the first place. You can take small measures such as ensuring you have a secure password and not clicking on strange links. One also has to commend TikTok for how seriously it took the matter and its quick response – it’s clear that this social media platform is serious about its cybersecurity.
