Journalist Sebastiana Barráez’s Twitter account was hacked after she reported torture at the Dgcim
On September 27, 2018, Venezuelan journalist Sebastiana Barráez, who specializes in military affairs, reported that her Twitter account @SebastianaB had been hacked shortly after she published an article on the Punto de Corte website about the mistreatment and torture of military personnel detained at the headquarters of the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence (Dgcim) in Boleíta, Caracas. After losing control of her account, the journalist created a new profile (@SebastianaSin). The incident was interpreted by press organizations as retaliation linked to her investigative work.
Impact details
Sebastiana Barreaz lost control of her Twitter account following her coverage of an alleged torture incident at a DGCIM detention center. Public reports do not identify the perpetrator of the attack or indicate that any data was leaked.
Classification & severity
- Category
- Intrusions
- Subtype
- Unprivileged account compromise
- Confidence
- Medium
Severity assessment
Medium- Functional impact
- Minimal
- Information impact
- Integrity loss
- Affected scope
- Single user
- Critical service
- None
- Public confidence
- Limited
- Recoverability
- Supplemented
A report has been received regarding the compromise of a journalist’s account affecting a public news channel; no data breach has been verified, nor has the perpetrator been identified.
Timeline
Sebastiana Barráez published an article on the Punto de Corte website denouncing the mistreatment and conditions of the military personnel detained in the basements of the Dgcim in Boleíta, Caracas.
The journalist reports that her Twitter account @SebastianaB was hacked; she creates a new account (@SebastianaSin) to continue sharing her work.
Venezuelan media outlets (TalCual, El Estímulo, El Nacional) and press freedom organizations are reporting the hack as a possible act of retaliation against the journalist.