Shaheen Sehbai wins back X account, exposes international hackers

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published 4 months ago |  JP Staff Report

ISLAMABAD—Senior Pakistani journalist Shaheen Sehbai has recovered control of his X (formerly Twitter) account after it was hacked last month. Sehbai, who commands a following of 1.8 million users, announced the development on Thursday following what he described as a "gruelling and grilling" three-week effort.

Taking to his restored X account, Sehbai wrote:

“HAY, YAY FRIENDS AND FOLLOWERS: After a gruelling and grilling 3-week effort, helped by my top IT expert friends and my state-of-the-art IT family, I HAVE FINALLY RECOVERED AND REGAINED CONTROL OF MY X-ACCOUNT THAT WAS HACKED FROM A CENTER IN TURKEY. You all know Turkey is the second base for which infamous institution. It was hacked just 3 days before my testimony in London Royal High Court. Finally we had the testimony and got back the Account.”

In early July, Sehbai had posted a short video alerting followers that his account had been compromised. The hackers had changed his handle to @sehbaihah71423, removed all followers, and removed verification. At the time, he urged people not to interact with the impersonated account and said efforts were underway to recover the original.

The incident raised alarm bells within the journalist community, with many viewing it as a targeted attempt to silence critical voices. The fact that the hack occurred just days before Sehbai was scheduled to testify in the London Royal High Court further deepened suspicions.

Shaheen Sehbai, a former Group Editor of The News International, is known for his critical commentary on Pakistan’s political and military establishment. His case highlights growing concerns over digital security for independent journalists, especially those working in exile or taking on powerful institutions.