TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — After having her Twitter account overtaken Saturday night as part of a phishing attack, Nikki Fried is back on the social media platform.
"In hindsight, maybe I shouldn’t have taken that phishing trip. Now, what have I missed," the gubernatorial candidate tweeted Sunday.
The verified @NikkiFried Twitter account appears to only have been down for less than 24 hours.
Keith Edwards, the new communications director for Fried's gubernatorial campaign, first addressed the hack on Twitter.
"We are doing everything we can to get Twitter support to fix it," Edwards wrote Saturday night. "Don’t click on any of the links tweeted from that account."
The Florida agriculture commissioner and political candidate's display name had been changed to "Nikki.eth." The biography section listed her as the moderator for a 3-D art page called "Skulltoons," which was also advertised in her hacked profile and cover photos.
Phishing attacks usually involve "bad guys" sending a message made to look like it's from a trustworthy source. Sometimes these are emails that might seem like they're coming from a website or person you know. They can be used to trick you into handing over your login information.
And, these attacks are incredibly common. Some experts estimate phishing was involved in nearly a third of all cyberattacks.
Fried's official @NikkiFriedFL account, which she uses for state business, appeared untouched, as of 10:30 p.m. Saturday. Her Facebook and Instagram accounts appeared fine too.
Fried, the state's highest-elected Democrat and member of the Florida Cabinet, is running to unseat Gov. Ron DeSantis. Polling has shown DeSantis with double-digital leads over Fried.