Twacked: The Trend of People Being Hacked on Twitter
In January 2010, Twitter banned 370 password combinations for being too obvious, however that hasn’t stopped hackers from tapping into the accounts of some of the world’s biggest celebrities and some of the United State’s most trusted news sources.
It probably comes as little surprise, that the Twitter accounts with the greatest number of followers are celebrities. Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Barack Obama, Katy Perry and Kim Kardashian make up the top five Twitter accounts based on follower-count. Every one of those five accounts has been hacked, even President Obama (though this occurred on January 5, 2009, before he took office). In fact, 8 of the top 10 celebrities with the most followers have been hacked.
Celebrities aren’t the only ones with compromised accounts. News organizations have also been the target of recent Twitter hacks. Both NBC New’s Twitter account (@NBCNews) and USA Today’s Twitter account (@USAToday) were compromised during the month of September.
Though hacking isn’t unavoidable, there are some ways to help keep your account safe:
- Use a strong password with at least 10 characters. Make sure this password is a combination of letters, number and other characters.
- Use HTTPS for improved security on Twitter. Twitter’s blog gives detailed instructions about how to use this setting.
- Twitter also recommends linking your phone to your Twitter account. This can save your account in the event that you do lose control of your personal email and/or password.
If your account does become compromised, make sure to visit the Twitter help page to find out how to fix the problem. Doing so promptly can help protect your followers from spam and your Twitter reputation.
Worried about how hackers could affect your company’s reputation? Submit your website for a free vulnerability evaluation.
Tags: hacked, hacker, Social Media, Twitter, WDDinc Web Security
