The curious case of John Wick: How is PM Modi website's Twitter hacker related to Keanu Reeves?

The official Twitter account of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's personal website was hacked in the early hours of Thursday. Series of Tweets were posted by the hacker asking its followers to donate to PM's relief fund through cryptocurrency. The account has over 2.5 million followers which shares information around Modi's personal website and the Narendra Modi mobile app.

Several screenshots of the tweets that have since then been pulled down by Twitter, went viral soon after. Interestingly, The hacker identified himself as 'John Wick' which is basically the alias of 'Elliot Alderson'.

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Now for those wondering where they have heard of the name before, let us refresh your memory.

'John Wick' is a fictional character played by Keanu Reeves in a Hollywood movie of the same name. The film is a three-part series and follows the story of an ex-hitman who comes out of retirement to track down the gangsters that killed his dog and took everything from him.

The first part from the series released in 2014 followed by 'John Wick: Chapter 2 in 2017, and the recent 'John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum' in 2019.

The series further highlights how Wick was an orphan taken in by the Tarasov Russian Mafia and raised as an assassin.

Interestingly, the name 'Elliot Alderson' has been used by several hackers in the past. The name is borrowed from the popular show 'Mr Robot' where Rami Malek plays a hacker but it is rather unusual to see a hacker used the name 'John Wick' considering the character has got nothing to do with cybercrime and is in fact a assassin in the film.

Also see: Keanu Reeves' 56th birthday: Some lesser-known facts about his life

In July, several celebrity Twitter accounts had been hacked. Unidentified hackers had gained access to Twitter accounts of technology giants, politicians, celebrities and major firms in what seemed like a Bitcoin scam.

Meanwhile, Twitter handle of the PM Modi's website has been restored and the tweets have been deleted.