In Wake of Burger King and Jeep Hack Fiascos, Twitter Reminds Us About Password Security
Companies that aren't extra careful with their social media accounts can end up with egg on their faces, and sometimes it just boils down to having a strong enough password. This is a point Twitter wants to drive home with its users following a couple of high profile hacker attacks on Burger King, which was hijacked and overrun with McDonalds content, and Chrysler, which saw its Jeep Twitter feed hacked by prankster who posted the brand had been sold to Cadillac.
Maybe Burger King's password was Whopper123 and maybe it wasn't, but either way, Twitter felt now was a good time to talk about password security.
"Over the past couple of days, there's been a fair amount of conversation about account security on Twitter. We thought we'd take advantage of this moment to remind you of best practices around passwords – both on Twitter and on the Internet generally," Twitter stated in a blog post.
Twitter's first tip is to use a strong password that's at least 10 characters long. The microblogging site also recommends including a mix of upper and lower case characters, numbers, and symbols. It's also important to use different passwords for different sites, so if one account is compromised, the rest are safe.
The remaining tips, like the ones above, are old hat for tech savvy users. Twitter says to watch out for suspicious links, be careful when clicking on URLs in Direct Messages, don't share your password with unknown third parties (especially those that promise to get you followers or make money), and keep your PC and antivirus software up to date.
PC security is a hot topic right now. In addition to Twitter accounts getting hacked, several Apple employees had their Macs compromised by a strain of malware that was also used to infect Facebook. And in related news, a recent 60-page report provides evidence that the Chinese government is likely sponsoring massive hacker attacks on U.S. businesses and organizations.
Maybe Burger King's password was Whopper123 and maybe it wasn't, but either way, Twitter felt now was a good time to talk about password security.
"Over the past couple of days, there's been a fair amount of conversation about account security on Twitter. We thought we'd take advantage of this moment to remind you of best practices around passwords – both on Twitter and on the Internet generally," Twitter stated in a blog post.
Twitter's first tip is to use a strong password that's at least 10 characters long. The microblogging site also recommends including a mix of upper and lower case characters, numbers, and symbols. It's also important to use different passwords for different sites, so if one account is compromised, the rest are safe.
The remaining tips, like the ones above, are old hat for tech savvy users. Twitter says to watch out for suspicious links, be careful when clicking on URLs in Direct Messages, don't share your password with unknown third parties (especially those that promise to get you followers or make money), and keep your PC and antivirus software up to date.
PC security is a hot topic right now. In addition to Twitter accounts getting hacked, several Apple employees had their Macs compromised by a strain of malware that was also used to infect Facebook. And in related news, a recent 60-page report provides evidence that the Chinese government is likely sponsoring massive hacker attacks on U.S. businesses and organizations.
