Celebrity Twitter accounts hacked

In the past week there has been two high profile Twitter accounts hacked in order to send out offensive and extreme content.

Actress Jessica Alba’s account was used to send out anti-Semitic and homophobic content and comedy stuntman Steve-O’s Twitter account sent racist and other offensive tweets. They both join the list of celebrities, politicians and organisations who have had their social media accounts compromised.

Anybody’s personal social media accounts are a potential target given the cache of private messages, personal data and, increasingly, payment information.

Keep your account secure

To help keep your account secure, Twitter recommend the following best practices:

• Use a strong password that you don’t reuse on other websites.
  
• Use login verification.
• Require email and phone number to request a reset password link or code.
• Be cautious of suspicious links and always make sure you’re on twitter.com before you enter your login information.
• Never give your username and password out to third parties, especially those promising to get you followers, make you money, or verify you.
• Make sure your computer software, including your browser, is up-to-date with the most recent upgrades and anti-virus software.
• Check to see if your account has been compromised.

Further Twitter security advise can be found here.