So Twitter shows its vulnerability again. What do you have linked to Twitter? A main email account? Your real-life name? What about Facebook? I'm not concerned about privacy there because none of my real info is shared. Sure they can track my entry and exit pages, look at my link to a blog, but I've already done my homework and there's nothing that can be used against me. How about you?
Earlier this year Twitter corporate was hacked (in my blog archive a few days ago I mentioned this). The convenience of Twitter, all the applications, access by phone, ability to attach it to other accounts is part of what makes it vulnerable. Often attacks are harmless pranks, however sometimes hackers are testing just how unprotected a site is. While Twitter isn't a pay service and your credit card info isn't on their corporate servers or the website itself, your name is, your email is, and that's not good.
Twitter goes down by DDoS cyberattack
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Twitter users were unable to access the Twitter homepage on Thursday, which the company said was due to an ongoing distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) cyberattack.
TechCrunch reported that Twitter was inaccessible as of approximately 9 a.m. eastern time. By 11 a.m. eastern on Thursday, the company posted on the Twitter status blog: "We are defending against a denial-of-service attack and will update status again shortly."
Media outlets on Thursday also reported that popular social networks LiveJournal and Facebook were suffering outages.
A DDoS or DoS is a type of cyberattack used by hackers to overwhelm a website or server with traffic to slow down or force a website offline. DDoS attacks often use botnets of compromised PCs to submit repeated requests to a targeted website.
Recently, DDoS attacks have been reported against the online media site Gawker, the file-sharing site The Pirate Bay and the messageboard 4chan.org.
A series of DDoS attacks beginning the weekend of July 4 hit government websites in the U.S. and South Korea.
More than 160,000 infected PCs were used in those attacks to disrupt service from sensitive sites including those of the White House, the Secret Service and the New York Stock Exchange.
ADNFCR-1765-ID-19300667-ADNFCR
The above cited from: MXlogic.com
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Notice they mentioned compromised PC's. What does that mean? Same as my friend's dilemma. A backdoor program used an open port from her computer for malicious activity. How did this happen to her? Not using proper WIFI locking, allowing her kids to download software and games, not having a Zone Alarm and proper spyware detector. Sometimes even those programs aren't enough, but you have to be vigilant.
Privacy isn't free, you have to work hard to keep it. Next blog I'll list what minimum anti-spyware and locks you should have on all your computers. If you're downloading things or using a Bit Torrent service, you should really consider having a separate computer dedicated to only that activity. Once your downloads are done, that dedicated computer is offline. If you're doing file sharing and need to be a "seed" download location for sharing bit torrents, then do not network the dedicated computer with your work or home computers. As for Twitter? It's harmless for social fun, just be aware that any info you share, real name, real location etc. is not private and not really removable from a cache online either, even if deleted. Facebook? I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole. There's no reason for me to be available for contact or to be found through my list of friends. To be honest, all of my real friends are people I can reach or email on my own.
Bands and those needing exposure, it's a double edged sword. Remember the 4 P's Pay Price in Privacy for Publicity. If you don't need your name private, that's fine, but watch your credit and debit cards, ATF bank drafts okay? And don't list your home address anywhere.
Number one reason why sites or companies are either hacked or compromised? You got it, financial gain. Do you have too much info out there? Make a note to start changing things.
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