Approximately 250,000 Twitter users have had their online security compromised after a cyber-hack in which hackers may have gained access to user names, session tokens, encrypted passwords and email addresses.
In a blog post published Friday, Twitter’s Director Of Information Security Bob Lord said that the attack was not the work of amateurs and that it was not an isolated incident. He also stated that Twitter was working with government and federal law enforcement to find and prosecute the attackers.
This cyber-hack is the latest news in a series of large-scale cyber security breaches that seem to be aimed at US media outlets, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post.
In comparison to Twitter’s millions of users, 250,000 compromised accounts initially seems like a relatively small percentage. But the point here is that it did actually happen, and because of the sophistication of the way in which the accounts were attacked Twitter users need to take a moment to read the recommendations made by Bob Lord and not only be vigilant about changing their password, but to also disable Java on their browsers.
Disabling Java in browsers has also been recommended by the US Department of Homeland Security. Enough said.
This news today about the Twitter hack is a good reminder to take some time and change ALL of your online passwords. Then make a reminder on your calendar to do it in another 4 weeks.
It may seem like a hassle now, but when it comes to online security and protection of your personal information, a few moments is nothing.
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