President Uhuru Kenyatta's Jubilee Party on Sunday lost its Twitter handle-JubileePartyK to bots who sent out several mentions in tweets released in every second.
In a single minute, the handle was sending at least 60 tweets to the party's close to 190,000 followers and their network.
A verified Twitter handle -@Trew30_ (Tre' Williams) was behind the numerous tweets and had pinned a campaign to a survey platform that purportedly pays participants handsomely.
Jubilee Party Secretary-General Raphael Tuju confirmed that they had noticed the unusual behavior on the account, saying someone had hacked the party's twitter.
"The account has been hacked. In this internet age, this can happen but we are handling that. It must have been done by some idle people who have nothing to do," stated Tuju when contacted by Kenyans.co.ke.
Twitter users often use third-party applications in running their handles are more vulnerable to hacking bots but this can always be rectified by reporting to the Inc.
To evade the spammy bots, one is required to first change their passwords. It is advisable that a user makes sure they turn off access to their account for any suspicious-looking or unknown third-party applications.
You can revoke access that you may have knowingly or unknowingly granted any apps linked to your account under the “Applications” tab in the “Settings” page.
In the case with the Jubilee Party handle, an untrustworthy third-party is suspected to have managed to obtain the login information, releasing automated spammy messages.
