X-Rated Hack! 😱 Minister’s Crypto Blunder!

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Ah, Tuesday! A day like any other, except when it isn’t. Seems even British Cabinet ministers aren’t immune to the digital slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. Lucy Powell, a name whispered in the hallowed halls of Parliament, found her X account (yes, the one that used to be a chirping bird 🐦) doing the cha-cha for a fake crypto-coin. House of Commons Coin ($HCC), they called it. As if the Houses of Parliament suddenly decided to mint their own digital dosh. One can almost hear the gears grinding in Bentham’s auto-icon. 🏛️

The audacious posts! Transparency, participation, trust! As if those words haven’t been thoroughly abused already. And the official House of Commons logo slapped on for good measure – a touch of irony, given the circumstances. It’s like using a Rembrandt to advertise snake oil. 🐍

Image of the hacked tweet

Powell, bless her heart, a leader in the House with some 70,000 followers (a veritable digital army, perhaps?), had the offending missives scrubbed quicker than you can say “cybersecurity.” Managing government law-making and supporting other MPs, all while battling crypto gremlins. One wonders if she’s considered adding “exorcist” to her CV. 👻

Cybercriminals, those modern-day highwaymen, lurking in the digital shadows, preying on the gullible and the greedy. Sham emails, hijacked passwords – the tools of their trade. It’s a bit like trying to pickpocket someone in a crowded marketplace, only the marketplace is the entire internet. 🌐

And the scheme! A “pump and dump,” they call it. Pump up the value, then dump it like a hot potato. Investors left holding worthless tokens, a bitter lesson in digital economics. It’s the oldest trick in the book, dressed up in blockchain and buzzwords. 💸

Luke Nolan of CoinShares, a man who clearly has the patience of a saint, tracked the transactions. A measly 34 transactions, earning the scammers a paltry £225. A king’s ransom? Hardly. But a demonstration of how easily such digital chicanery can be conjured up. Like pulling a rabbit out of a hat, only the rabbit is a worthless crypto-coin. 🐰

The U.K. Parliament, in a display of admirable seriousness, assures us they take cybersecurity seriously. Advice is offered, passwords must be strong, two-step verification is encouraged. All sensible measures, of course. But one can’t help but wonder if a little more common sense wouldn’t go amiss. 🤔

Sources: 1. [Added Security ® Extended Service Agreements – Subaru of America](https://www.subaru.com/owners/benefits-of-ownership/added-security-program.html) 2. [python web scraping request error (mod security)](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/61968521/python-web-scraping-request-errormod-security) 3. [Content Security Policy (CSP) – HTTP | MDN – MDN Web Docs](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Guides/CSP)

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2025-04-15 20:21