The Twitter account of Bharatiya Janata Party chief Jagat Prakash Nadda was briefly hacked on Sunday, ANI reported, citing Minister of State for Electronics and Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar. The account has now been restored.

Chandrasekhar told ANI that his ministry was aware of the incident and its Computer Emergency Response Team was looking into it. The Computer Emergency Response Team is the nodal agency that deals with cyber security threats like hacking and phishing

Nadda’s account had made a now-deleted tweet urging people to make cryptocurrency donations for Ukraine.

Advertisement

“Stand with people of Ukraine,” the post from Nadda’s account had said. “Now accepting cryptocurrency donations. Bitcoin and Ethereum.”

Another tweet from his handle had also sought donations in the form of cryptocurrency for Russia, reported NDTV. It has also been deleted now.

In December, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Twitter account was also briefly hacked.

“India has officially adopted Bitcoin as legal tender,” the tweet had said. “The government has officially bought 500 BTC [bitcoins] and is distributing them to all residents of the country.”

Advertisement

Bitcoin is a form a cyrptocurrency, a currency that exists digitally or virtually, which is protected by cryptography. This refers to a method of encrypting communication using a code so that it can be only be accessed by people for whom it is intended.

Earlier in September 2020 too, an unidentified group had hacked the Twitter account linked to Modi’s personal website and mobile application.