Twitter's Recommendations to Keep Your Account Safe
Turns out that a lot of users ask Twitter a fairly simple question: how can I keep my Twitter account safe and private? So the popular micro-blogging and social networking site decided to blog about this topic. Here are Twitter’s recommendations for better account security:
Avoid phishing scams
Most times Twitter accounts are compromised because the user falls victim to phishing scams, not because Twitter itself was hacked. As a matter of fact, hacking attempts that directly target Twitter are extremely rare – but I digress. It is fairly easy to avoid phishing scams if you keep these in mind:
- Twitter does not and will not send emails requesting your password or asking you to download attachments.
- Do not enter your Twitter password into anything other than a Twitter log-in screen on the web and applications that you trust.
- Check the URL in the address bar to make sure you are on the twitter.com site.
Pick a strong password
An easy to guess password does not provide much protection for your account. That is why you must make sure to choose a properly strong password that’s at least 10 characters that combines letters, numbers and other characters. Once you pick a strong password, do not use it for all your online accounts.
For additional information on password security check out the 15 tips McAfee shared with the public earlier this month.
Use HTTPS
By using HTTPS you ensure that the traffic is encrypted and thus no one can snoop at what your send over the web. From your Twitter account’ settings you can enable the “Always use HTTPS” option.
Link your phone and your Twitter account
By doing this you could save your account if you lose control of your personal email and/or password. A detailed presentation on how to like your phone to your Twitter account is available here.
Be informed
On Twitter’s help page for compromised accounts you can find out how to quickly fix things if you think your account has been compromised.
Updates about safety and security are regularly posted via @safety and on the account security help page.
Avoid phishing scams
Most times Twitter accounts are compromised because the user falls victim to phishing scams, not because Twitter itself was hacked. As a matter of fact, hacking attempts that directly target Twitter are extremely rare – but I digress. It is fairly easy to avoid phishing scams if you keep these in mind:
- Twitter does not and will not send emails requesting your password or asking you to download attachments.
- Do not enter your Twitter password into anything other than a Twitter log-in screen on the web and applications that you trust.
- Check the URL in the address bar to make sure you are on the twitter.com site.
Pick a strong password
An easy to guess password does not provide much protection for your account. That is why you must make sure to choose a properly strong password that’s at least 10 characters that combines letters, numbers and other characters. Once you pick a strong password, do not use it for all your online accounts.
For additional information on password security check out the 15 tips McAfee shared with the public earlier this month.
Use HTTPS
By using HTTPS you ensure that the traffic is encrypted and thus no one can snoop at what your send over the web. From your Twitter account’ settings you can enable the “Always use HTTPS” option.
Link your phone and your Twitter account
By doing this you could save your account if you lose control of your personal email and/or password. A detailed presentation on how to like your phone to your Twitter account is available here.
Be informed
On Twitter’s help page for compromised accounts you can find out how to quickly fix things if you think your account has been compromised.
Updates about safety and security are regularly posted via @safety and on the account security help page.
