Twitter Phishing Scams and Hacks

Do you 'tweet'? That is the term used for individual posts or comments on the social networking site Twitter. You can check out 'What is Twitter' from the About.com Guide for Web Trends Dan Nations if you want to know more about how the service works. But, if you are one of the millions of 'tweeters', you should be aware of some recent security issues with the service.

First, there has been a phishing scam circulating that impacts Twitter. Twitter users receive private messages which should only be able to be sent from trusted Twitter friends inviting them to check out a cool site or funny video. When they click on the URL they are taken to a very convincing fake Twitter login page. Logging in allows the attackers to capture the Twitter usernames and passwords. Stealing Twitter identities is hardly as lucrative as stealing credit card or bank account numbers, but once they have that information they can continue to use the compromised accounts to lure users into other phishing scams and malware sites.

As if that is not enough, Twitter has also been victimized by attackers who managed to hack into the Twitter accounts of a number of celebrities and famous people such as Barack Obama and Britney Spears. One of the most well-known Twitter users, CNN's Rick Sanchez also had his Twitter account hijacked. The attackers posted a 'tweet' that appeared to be from Rick stating "i am high on crack right now might not be coming into work today". Twitter has stated that these hacks are not a result of the phishing attack, but rather a vulnerability or weakness in some internal support tools. Twitter has subsequently taken those tools offline until they can get them properly secured.