Do you remember the time when there were kids in your locality that used to pull pranks on the neighbors just for the sake of it? Or more like just because they loved nothing more than being a nuisance for those around them. Well, those very kids have now grown up and are channeling that negative energy into hacking computers and cell phones through an assortment of PC monitoring software and mobile spy software. And those kids that were actually exceedingly good at being a pain in the backside back then, are focusing on being a menace for big social networking websites like Twitter and their users – some of them pretty well known in fact.
Recently a 19-year-old known by the pseudonym “Phobia” hacked into the Twitter account of a leading journalist Mat Honan. He managed to pull this off after accessing the journalist’s Amazon, Google and Apple accounts – which were erased in synchrony with Honan’s iPhone, Macbook-Air and iPad. Another recent example is of a political hacker who delved into @ReutersTech newsfeed and started tweeting random nonsense. Considering these examples, it is becoming increasingly important to secure your Twitter account. And here are five steps that would take you to the tech realm’s Promised Land.
1. Keep Twitter and Webmail Accounts Separate
Cloud services like Twitter needs an email address for a username. However, the logical thing would be to keep the Twitter username separate from the email id that everyone is aware of. Once hackers take a nosedive into your well known Gmail account with their arsenal of PC monitoring software and mobile phone spy software then that’s farewell to the security of all of your accounts. To make things difficult for the hacking mafia use an email id that is not accessible via cloud service.
2. Learn Access Management
After Honan’s Twitter account was hacked, it allowed hackers the access to 416,000 followers including that of Gizmodo. Since Gizmodo’s account had access to Honan’s account it allowed the hackers penetrated the latter’s account through the former’s Twitter account. The information security department should maintain a list of access control, which would have meant that any link with Honan’s Twitter and other accounts should have had been cancelled once he left his company. This access management bit, and its knowledge, is extremely important for everyone concerned about their account’s security.
3. Have Unique Passwords
It is a no-brainer these days; having the same passwords for all your accounts might occupy less of the space in your neurons, but the possible ramifications in case one of your accounts is hacked are humongous. Not only would your privacy be under the gun, but if you have the same passwords for your bank accounts your fiscal security would also be under threat. So use a few more MBs of your brain and keep different passwords for different accounts, including your Twitter account.
4. Keep Security Software Updated
Both in Honan’s case and in the case of Reuters, the attackers exploited vulnerabilities in the system and pounced on them. By keeping the self hosted web software and other security software up to date you’ll have a robust line of defense that would ensure that there aren’t many holes that can be eyed by the hackers. Also any security software needs to be regularly updated for it to effectively deal with the latest menaces.
5. Secure Auto-Tweet Blogs
There is a multitude of WordPress accounts that automatically issues tweets whenever there is a new post that goes live. This basically means that all a hacker needs to do in this case is, access their target’s WordPress account and start tweeting on behalf of their target. The security of these auto-tweet blogs, hence, becomes extremely pivotal. Any company that outsources blog should go through the updating policy of the outsourcer and iron out any security creases if they exist.
Author Bio
This article was written by Jane Andrew on behalf of mobistealth. She provides tips and tricks about how to secure social media accounts and mobile phone spy software. To find out more about spy software, please visit website or follow her @janeandrew01.
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