Sometime last week, the social media (twitter) account of popular pop music artist, Katy Perry was hacked and the profane messages that were coming in, probably left her followers shocked, confused and rather perturbed. The hacker’s account also reportedly leaked a ‘yet to be released’ song by the pop star.
Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson, known professionally as Katy Perry with 89.1 million followers, is said to be the most followed account on twitter. Her twitter account is a reminder to us how individuals’ online accounts are susceptible in a world where cyber security is not taken lightly.
Few clues might be taken from Katy’s experience to ensure we don’t fall prey to these attacks: Create strong passwords that are at least 10 character long; create alpha -numeric password, which is a mix of alphabets, numbers, symbols, upper case and lower case letters- this way, it becomes difficult for hackers to gain access.
Others are – use the two-factor verification: This serves as a second check to make sure ‘only you’ have access to your account. You are either asked to register a verified phone number and a confirmed e-mail address. After you enrol in login verification, you’ll be asked to enter a six-digit code that twitter sends to your phone via SMS each time you sign in to twitter.com
Watch out for phishing: Phishing is when scammers try to access your private information using tweets, emails, and direct messages. For instance, they may tell you your twitter account’s been hacked and then instruct you to change your password immediately. They may also claim that you have won a contest and all you need to do to claim your prize is to log into your account.
Be cautious of third party apps and websites: Revoke access for any third party application that you don’t recognise.
Watch out for malicious links, and always make sure you are actually onTwitter.com before you enter your login information. Clicking on such links could cost you dearly.
Avoid unprotected WiFi: If you are tweeting on public WiFi, make sure protecting your personal data protects you from hackers. Hotspot Shield can set you up with the necessary protection to keep your device safe.
In addition to these, twitter also warns on its security advice pages: “We’re working to improve our responses to security threats, but user accounts and computers can sometimes become compromised by phishing, hacks, or viruses.
“We want Twitter to be a safe and open community. We’re working to improve our responses to security threats, but user accounts and computers can sometimes become compromised by phishing, hacks, or viruses.”
Twitter also recommends changing passwords (both in Twitter and any other trusted apps linked with Twitter), making sure no-one else has access to your email account and checking no unauthorised apps are linked with your Twitter account.
Omobolaji David-Ojumu
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