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For about two hours yesterday (an eternity in Twitter time), my account was seized by a virus as deadly as a band of Somali pirates. You can read more about the virus and its origins here (via CNET), but in a nutshell, my account sent off unauthorized tweets blasting certain celebrities and talking about how the problem could be prevented by using browsers such as Firefox. I believe I picked up the virus by clicking on an infected user's profile.
Here's what you can do to keep yourself and your Twitter account safe. Believe me-- you do NOT want to experience what I just experienced!
- If you are not already using Firefox or a third party client for Twitter (such as Tweetdeck or Twitterific), I highly recommend that you do. Internet Explorer can be susceptible to all sorts of nasty security breaches. I shudder to think about it.
- If you think an account you are following may be infected, do not click on their profile and just to be on the safe side, remove them from your Following list.
- Keep reading sources such as mashable and CNET to stay updated about any new viruses or hacks that may be circulating. I may not be the most tech-savvy blogger/tweeter out there, but I think this is a sign that I need to pay more attention and stay current.
- Check out the Twitter support page for updates from the company itself.
If anyone else experienced this awful virus for themselves, I'd love to hear your tips. I want to thank you for being patient with me and want to apologize for any inconvenience I may have caused!
8 comments:
Oh noes! What happened?
My account was hacked with a virus. It basically took over my tweets and streamed some pretty awful stuff. It was a two hour ordeal, to figure out what was wrong and how to purge the account of the "evil tweets." This Twitter worm is in the news. I feel so violated! :(
oh dear, I'm so sorry :(
Bad luck :( let me know when it's all sorted so I can follow you! x
Hey guys-- I blogged a little more about how my account was recaptured :)
Aw I'm sorry that happened, we all forgive you I'm sure considering it's not your fault at all. Thanks for the tips, I use tweetdeck and its pretty amazing. except I can only get the 100 most recent, I feel like I'm missin out on so much some time.... but I think that just makes me an addict.
xxx
Rachael: Thanks for stopping by! I hear you on the Twitter addiction. I think that's part of why I was so upset about losing access for two hours... I'm totally addicted!
I'm glad you got your account back! Twitter seems like the biggest hassle/waste of time out of all the time wasters.
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