Ghanaian President John Mahama announced on March 18 that he has regained full control of his X (formerly Twitter) account from hackers who used it to promote a fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme.
Solanafrica Scam: Hackers Breach Ghanaian President’s X Account
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Two-Factor Authentication Not Enough
The president’s post announcing the restoration of the account came a few days after his social media account was used to promote a project known as Solanafrica. Hours earlier, Ghana’s Cyber Security Authority (CSA) issued a statement confirming the breach and outlining the actions being taken to remove the hackers, who continued to post new messages.
“We understand the public concern this incident has generated and are actively addressing the situation. The authority is working closely with X and other relevant stakeholders to address this incident and to prevent future occurrences,” the CSA said.
According to a Business Insider report, the X post in question claimed the crypto project was being spearheaded by Mahama “to make payments across Africa free using the Solana blockchain.” The post and subsequent messages encouraged Mahama’s 2.4 million followers to invest in the scheme.
The breach prompted local cybersecurity expert Abubakar Issaka, from Ghana’s Centre for Cyberwatch and Data Protection, to call for the implementation of stringent backend security checks. He stated that two-factor authentication alone “is no longer sufficient” to block increasingly sophisticated hackers.
Instead, Issaka said prominent social media users must also consider monitoring login activities and limiting third-party app access. He added that they should assign dedicated teams to ensure around-the-clock surveillance of their digital platforms.
The hijacking of Mahama’s X account occurred days after hackers targeted the social media accounts of the South African Parliament, where they similarly promoted a Solana-based token bearing the surname of South Africa’s leader before their posts were eventually taken down.
