Twitter Now Warns Users of State-Sponsored Attacks
Twitter Now Warns Users of State-Sponsored Attacks
Following the Twitter hack attacks on Hamid Mir and Geo, it seems that Twitter has finally decided to beef up its security. The social media giant has even gone one step further – it informs users in case your Twitter handle (username) becomes the target of a state-sponsored cyber attack.
Google and Facebook already used to warn users in such a scenario. And now Twitter has also followed their lead in warning users.
Why Do These Cyber Attacks Occur?
Usually, the reason given by Twitter for these attacks is that the attackers might be trying to get a hold of a victim’s email addresses, phone numbers and network connections.
It also suggests ways to make Twitter secure (including using Tor), for those who place a premium on their digital security.
Do We Know Who is Responsible?
Attacks of these nature are becoming prevalent, and even raising more questions than answering them. For instance, there’s no data that points to which country was responsible. There also is no discernable pattern found in these attacks, which might have let investigators pinpoint the culprits.
However, this recent measure by Twitter is much appreciated by activists, security gurus and journalists, who deal with issues that make them ripe pickings for anyone with an axe to grind with them.
Even Twitter accounts that deliberate on social issues of the day are not being spared either.
It is apparent that we live in a world where physical and digital safety need to be safeguarded. Some common sense rules like enabling two step authentication are called for. But as these latest attacks show us, we need a radically different way of ensuring the security of our digital selves.
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