Clearly, these security breaches affect a vast number of people, and could have devastating effects on innocent users. On January 6, frequent Twitterer Sanchez seemingly issued this update to his followers: "i am high on crack right now might not be coming into work today [sic]." While people may chuckle at the prankster's joke, what if it happened to an everyday person? One false rumor could result in that person's job termination. In addition, according to Kaplan, a test preparation and tutoring company, one in ten university admissions officers seek applicants' Facebook pages as an additional tool in assessing candidates. Imagine if an applicant's account was attacked, and unflattering statements about the person's sexual orientation, behavior, or other details were posted. Such false accusations could cost that student a place at his or her desired university. The consequences of such malicious rumor mongering could be even more disastrous.
How Can Social Network Users Protect Their Information? Use Common Sense
Do Twitter users in particular have any defense? Most methods suggest common sense: change your password frequently, and do not choose an easy-to-guess phrase (random combinations of letters and numbers are best). When another Twitter user directs followers to a link — particularly if it is a "TinyURL" address — point the mouse over the link, but do not click on it. Often the address will appear in the lower toolbar of a browser. If the address seems suspicious in any way (for example, the "fake Twitter" site users clicked on read "http://twitter.access-logins.com," the correct URL, of course, is www.twitter.com), do not click on the link. Finally, and perhaps most obvious, users should not reveal any personal information in Twitter updates or Facebook status updates — in other words, addresses, phone numbers, and any other sensitive information should be avoided.
Twitter Users Deserve the Best in Security Technology
The Twitter incidents reveal the importance of security not only in commercial transactions, but in distributing personal information. Social networks need to take a clear stand against these breaches of security and implement effective solutions, before a devastating identity theft case can occur. These services depend upon their devoted users, and therefore companies owe it to loyal customers to keep their information as secure as possible. Social networking sites are, for the most part, free to use; therefore, some may argue that account holders should not expect the best in security. While Twitter users do not pay for the service — and the company admirably shows no sign of charging any fees — they should still expect that the company will constantly combat any threats, and will be open with their customers about doing so. After all, social networking sites depend on their users — if people lose confidence in their security and leave en masse, this part of the Web 2.0 world will be just a memory.
Article comments
1 - ed dickson
Great article, concise, informative and right on the money.