Well, not my Twitter account. But many people have been saying this today. It is not the first time people's accounts have been hacked into as most of us know. Unfortunately for innocent, unsuspecting people out there, it certainly won't be the last.
Usually an application (you know those third party apps that want your username and password) has gotten access to a user's Twitter account. While some of these applications or websites use the account for good, such as finding certain statistics on a Twitter account, there are those third party sites that are made for bad things such as spamming people with direct messages. Today's direct message came in the form of "You might want to click on this site! People are saying bad things about you here" or something to that effect. When a user clicks on the link, he is prompted to enter his username and password for access to what the user is lead to believe is juicy gossip about him online. Unfortunately, by entering in his Twitter username and password, he has just given access to this site to use his account to spread other similar direct messages to all his followers.
Sites like this are similar to the email messages that one might get with an attachment from someone you know with a message of "Look at the program I made for you!" When a user clicks on it, the file opens, scans the address book, and now all of his address book receives this same email.
Some people have no life. I know.
Here are some steps to fix your Twitter account if you suspect it's been hacked. The most common way to know if your account has ben hacked is if you get someone asking you "Did you send me a DM?" If you know you did not send the DM (assuming you did not drunk DM someone....in that case, there is no security for drunk behavior. Sorry about your luck.)then your account is likely hacked.
Do no despair. The fix is easy. Remember how you gave someone (in this case a site) your login id and password? So just change your password. The site will not be able to authenticate on your account again and the spam messages will stop.
If using Twitter from a smart phone, every client is different. RTFM:)
Otherwise if you are using Twitter off of the website itself, just click on your profile name on the upper right hand corner of the screen. When the popup menu comes up, click on settings. Click on the password tab. This is where you change your password in Twitter. Don't forget to save your changes!
THe losers who create sites that get login information for bad purposes are getting smarter. But the users can get smarter too by at least knowing what to do if they are attacked in this way.
Showing posts with label Twitter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Twitter. Show all posts
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Social Media: Making Protests Heard Around the World
Social media has been such an important part of all the protests that have taken place around the world. One of the first was all the protesting done during and after the Iran election. Since then, all the revolutionary movements that have taken place around the world have been caught on social media sites such as Twitter and Youtube for all to see.
The growth of social media has enabled anyone with a smart phone, digital camera, or just a computer and an internet connection to become a journalist. (for better or worse) Some of the footage that the amateurs have caught has then been picked up by mainstream media. Such footage picked up by bigger media outlets include a woman being shot at a protest in Iran and police brutality around the world.
Much mainstream media has given much attention to the protests in other countries. Yet, when it comes to the Occupy America protests, they are barely being acknowledged. CNN, for example, did not have any front page coverage on their website at the time of this writing. This is no problem for the amateur journalists, however, who are determined to get their word out.
Since before it was created, the Occupy movement has advertised and gained likes on Facebook. They also have their own Twitter streams with constant updates and retweets. Videos are always being uploaded on video sharing sites such as Youtube and pictures are being taken all over the place.
Looking at the impact of social media has shown a different perspective since the protests are more local than the overseas protests. Not only has social media been a media outlet for the people, it has also come into the rescue to keep the events going as intended. There have been tweets requesting food donations for the demonstrators, ponchos for when it began to pour rain all over them, and even external hard drives so they can keep live coverage of the Occupy Boston event going so the world can see. Apparently social media is doing the work those tweets were hoping for. There is still live streaming video, one man showed up today with a pickup truck full of bottled water, and restaurants answered the call for food by donating food.
Every time there is a huge event where social media is used to impact it, a new benefit of social media is seen. In the Occupy America protests as well as the revolutions in the Middle East, people are of different cultures and backgrounds. But one thing that everyone has in common is a need for the average person not to be taken advantage of by a select few. THe voice of individualism is speaking out. Thanks to social media, it is no longer being ignored.
The growth of social media has enabled anyone with a smart phone, digital camera, or just a computer and an internet connection to become a journalist. (for better or worse) Some of the footage that the amateurs have caught has then been picked up by mainstream media. Such footage picked up by bigger media outlets include a woman being shot at a protest in Iran and police brutality around the world.
Much mainstream media has given much attention to the protests in other countries. Yet, when it comes to the Occupy America protests, they are barely being acknowledged. CNN, for example, did not have any front page coverage on their website at the time of this writing. This is no problem for the amateur journalists, however, who are determined to get their word out.
Since before it was created, the Occupy movement has advertised and gained likes on Facebook. They also have their own Twitter streams with constant updates and retweets. Videos are always being uploaded on video sharing sites such as Youtube and pictures are being taken all over the place.
Looking at the impact of social media has shown a different perspective since the protests are more local than the overseas protests. Not only has social media been a media outlet for the people, it has also come into the rescue to keep the events going as intended. There have been tweets requesting food donations for the demonstrators, ponchos for when it began to pour rain all over them, and even external hard drives so they can keep live coverage of the Occupy Boston event going so the world can see. Apparently social media is doing the work those tweets were hoping for. There is still live streaming video, one man showed up today with a pickup truck full of bottled water, and restaurants answered the call for food by donating food.
Every time there is a huge event where social media is used to impact it, a new benefit of social media is seen. In the Occupy America protests as well as the revolutions in the Middle East, people are of different cultures and backgrounds. But one thing that everyone has in common is a need for the average person not to be taken advantage of by a select few. THe voice of individualism is speaking out. Thanks to social media, it is no longer being ignored.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Script Kiddies new victim: USA Today
At least when The Script Kiddies hacked USA Today's Twitter account, they did not spread rumors about a false terrorist attack. But still, hacking is hacking in the eyes of the FBI. (Not to mention the owners of the hacked accounts).
Groups like this really should have no second chance though. Twitter should have shut down their account after the 9/11 hack. Also Twitter is a bit loose on security. It is questionable who has account credentials once a user clicks allow for a third party program to gain access to the account. Also it appears to be too easy to take over someone's Twitter account. Think about how many times in the past year a Twitter account has been compromised and talked about in the news. It happens less with Facebook. Facebook takes great measures to provide security to deter hacking attempts. If Facebook sees unusual activity on the account (ex: a login which is usually coming from Boston comes from Japan in the same day), they will suspend the account. In order to use the account again, the user must give backup information that Facebook has on file in order to prove maintain integrity, and the user is forced to reset the password.
Twiter does not have this. When thinking about this, it did not make sense for Twiter not to implement this security on the accounts. In profile settings in Twitter, there is a tab for mobile. This tab is for allowing or not allowing mobile alerts. Why not have the users enter in their cell phone number, but they can still have the option to not allow tweets on their mobile phone? This way, if there is unusual activity on their account, Twitter has their phone number and can at least send them a text message alerting the user. This way, the user can take appropriate actions in order to have Twitter suspend the account for their protection or let Twitter know everything is ok.
While the social network sites compete with each other to have the biggest user base, it would be beneficial if they all were mindful of security and implement it to however it may fit into the user experience they provide.
Groups like this really should have no second chance though. Twitter should have shut down their account after the 9/11 hack. Also Twitter is a bit loose on security. It is questionable who has account credentials once a user clicks allow for a third party program to gain access to the account. Also it appears to be too easy to take over someone's Twitter account. Think about how many times in the past year a Twitter account has been compromised and talked about in the news. It happens less with Facebook. Facebook takes great measures to provide security to deter hacking attempts. If Facebook sees unusual activity on the account (ex: a login which is usually coming from Boston comes from Japan in the same day), they will suspend the account. In order to use the account again, the user must give backup information that Facebook has on file in order to prove maintain integrity, and the user is forced to reset the password.
Twiter does not have this. When thinking about this, it did not make sense for Twiter not to implement this security on the accounts. In profile settings in Twitter, there is a tab for mobile. This tab is for allowing or not allowing mobile alerts. Why not have the users enter in their cell phone number, but they can still have the option to not allow tweets on their mobile phone? This way, if there is unusual activity on their account, Twitter has their phone number and can at least send them a text message alerting the user. This way, the user can take appropriate actions in order to have Twitter suspend the account for their protection or let Twitter know everything is ok.
While the social network sites compete with each other to have the biggest user base, it would be beneficial if they all were mindful of security and implement it to however it may fit into the user experience they provide.
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