Was The AP Twitter Hack Just The First Of Many?
Will hacked Twitter feeds continue to plunge markets into chaos or can Twitter’s online security prevent future attacks?
The Twitter account of the Associated Press was hacked last week, briefly causing a massive plunge in the stock market and Twitter is on the alert
The social media company sent out an urgent memo to news organizations warning of future attacks:
Please help us keep your accounts secure. There have been several recent incidents of high-profile news and media Twitter handles being compromised. We believe that these attacks will continue, and that news and media organizations will continue to be high value targets to hackers.
What to be aware of:
These incidents appear to be spear phishing attacks that target your corporate email. Promoting individual awareness of these attacks within your organization and following the security guidelines below is vital to preventing abuse of your Twitter accounts. Take these steps right now: Change your Twitter account passwords. Never send passwords via e-mail, even internally. Ensure that passwords are strong- at least 20 characters long. Use either randomly-generated passwords (like “LauH6maicaza1Neez3zi”) or a random string of words (like “hewn cloths titles yachts refine”).
Keep your email accounts secure. Twitter uses email for password resets and official communication. If your email provider supports two-factor authentication, enable it. Change your e-mail passwords, and use a password different from your Twitter account password.
Last week’s hack, which claimed that there were multiple explosions in the White House that injured Barack Obama, was caused by a group called the Syrian Electronic Army, which has claimed responsibility for hacking the Twitter feeds of a number of other news organizations. The Syrian Electronic Army is a group of computer hackers who support the regime of embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and seems to believe that hacking Twitter feeds is the best way to support his regime.
Twitter’s concerns show the growing role of social media in setting the agenda. The hacked AP feed briefly caused journalists to converge on the White House and massive selloff on Wall Street. The Syrian Electronic Army may have merely thought it was causing mischief but future hackers will have a far better idea about the damage that they can inflict; and unless Twitter and new organizations can shore up their defenses in time, they will do so.
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