August 2009

When Twitter was hacked earlier this month, it set off alarms across the Web community. Are Twitter users safe? Can individual Twitter accounts be easily hacked? Do you have to be “famous” to attract hackers?

Apparently, nobody is safe and thousands of Twitter users find their identity compromised every day, even when it's only a third party app using their account to tweet ads to their follower list without their permission.

Last week, Twitter taught us a personal safety lesson, too. I was casually skimming through our corporate Twitter feed and was surprised to see multiple updates advertizing a Web site called EasyFollowers.com…coming from us.

“I just became a member of this awesome Web site…” “OMGGGG I love this site, I’m getting tons of followers!” No, thanks! “Dear EasyFollowers, I don’t love you and, strangely enough, I don’t even recall signing up for your services!”

Nothing comes for free, and when some bulk followers service offers you to supersize your follower list and make you a superstar in days, ask yourself: Can you really trust them? Are you ready to risk your good name for a vague chance to get a bunch of fake followers? Because shortly after you sign up, this wonderful free service will start to "cost" you a lot, as they will start spamming your account and annoy your hard won followers with promotional tweets in your name.

Of course, we were not alone in this. Hundreds of auto-tweets are spamming the Twitterverse every hour, and user complaints are on the rise. Tweets like “Help! How do I disengage from EasyFollowers?” are a commonplace.

EasyFollowers and similar sites call themselves “Twitter tool Web sites,” look just like any other Twitter application, and are a sure threat for many users, who play fast and don’t think twice before giving out their login information.

So, lesson learned, and here’s an action plan:

1. Be extra careful when giving out your login information to third-party Twitter applications.
2. If your Twitter account gets “hijacked,” change your password immediately.
3. Create strong passwords that properly protect your account.  If you’re having trouble, use password generator sites like Strong Password Generator password security Web tools like Password Meter.
4. Get into the habit of using multiple passwords. If you cannot remember the passwords you create — consider using password managers like Clipperz and KeePass.
5. Change your passwords on a regular basis.

Twitter is such a groundbreaking idea that many of us are willing to overlook obvious security issues that exist with the service and simply accept them. We just move on, we don't really care, and all we want to do is tweet… till our own identity is at stake.

Tweet safe.

Source: youngmoney.com