Twatter
 | |
| Type | State owned enterprise |
|---|---|
| Industry | Internet |
| Founded | 1691 AN |
| Headquarters | Pentyre, Calbion |
| Key people | Thom Loath (Founder & CEO) |
Twatter is an intranet communication platform that can be categorised as a "social medium". It was founded by Thom Loath, a first year student of programming at the Princely University of Pentyre. The social platform was built within one day and functions through the use of crude, unreliable commands that are notoriously difficult to understand or master. At this point, Twatter is fully owned by the Calbain government, which is engaged in an active campaign to promote the platform.
Twatter serves as the Calbain alternative to a similarly named online platform which was banned by the Calbain government in 1691 AN over its update of the terms of use. Following this rule change, the Unilaterally Independent newspaper ceased to publish on the channel, and the Calbain government seized the opportunity to side with the free press by immediately banning the entire communication platform. Shortly after, Twatter was launched as a means of communication. It was met with a mixed response from critics.
An investigation into the active users of Twatter has shown that at least 50% of messages shared on the platform are encrypted messages sent by the Calbain Security Agency. Other active users are the Calbain government, the Calbain Church and several accounts that share erotic literature. It is also a popular medium among students with access to computers at schools, since the programming infrastructure (which works similarly to a computer virus) makes the platform impossible to block through a firewall or whitelist.
Cyber attack and subsequent events
Beginning on 6.XIII.1691 AN Twatter began to be subjected to an orchestrated bot messaging campaign. Attempting to exploit Thom Loath's brevity of coding, the population of auto-propagating bot accounts quickly became a small but appreciable segment of the Twatter user community. Soon every message posted to Twatter would be deluged with responses detailing how young Jingdaoese maidens were earnestly searching for virile males to perform patriotic duty for great eternal honour of Chidao Emperor. Embedded in each message was two hidden layers of coding; one to make an attempt to inject a data interrogation packet into the computer terminal of each user that liked, shared or replied to a message, for the harvesting of personal and financial information, while the second and more overtly malevolent layer was designed to introduce onto the user's computer a modified variant of the Minaj virus previously targeted against operating systems during the War of Jingdaoese Immolation and the takeover of Chryse. Attempts at tracing the intranet address of these bots repeatedly pointed to Vaduz in southern Cibola, however this was considered an unlikely location for an active server farm with linkages to international intranets in view of the settlement having been purportedly abandoned with the collapse of Helderbourgh.
The cyber attack had dire consequences when second Lieutenant-at-Sea Albert Hoekstra, on board on the IFS Ingrid, a former Iron Fleet nuclear attack submarine that had been used by the Chrysean navy, opened twatter. The IFS Ingrid was in drydocks at the anchorage operated by the 1st Submarine Warfare Flotilla located at Vijayanagara, where it was scheduled to be incorporated into the Maritime Forces of the UDF, as the only submarine with nuclear capacity left by the Iron Company following their departure from Chryse. Unfortunately, Lt. Hoekstra was unaware of the cyber attack when he liked a post from the account "Willing Daocheng Subs for Hung Mens", which immediately caused a massive malware attack on the automated systems of the submarine. On board the IFS Ingrid was one short-range missile with a small nuclear warhead. The system error caused the rocket to launch, but without opening the launching shaft. As a result, the missile immediately exploded, and the IFS Ingrid with it. A significant number of nearby vessels and buildings operated by the ESB group were destroyed in the explosion. The number of casualties is still unknown but likely to number in the hundreds.
International response
Sanama: Shortly after the launch Twatter was blocked in Sanama due to security and privacy concerns.
Batavia: In Batavia, Twatter was blocked due to perceived links to the Iron Company.
Floria: Banned immediately after launch due to security concerns.
Constancia: Banned in the Imperial State of Constancia immediately after launch due to security concerns.
Jingdao: Very popular in the Jingdaoese modern art scene, mostly due to the retro feel of the interface.
Meckelnburgh: Permanent block nationwide after passage of An Act to regulate dangerous Websites and advance Digital Security (1709).
Mercury: The site is not banned, however it does redirect to a web-safety message before access is given.
Elluenuueq: The use of legacy computer terminals with access to the types of intranet capable of hosting Twatter was prohibited following investigations into an industrial accident in Vijayanagara dockyards, where suspected malware featured prominently.
Unified Governorates: Twatter is already covered by the standing prohibition against the use of unsecured IT systems and unauthorised information usage.
