Tonight, twitter experienced a little drama, and a LOT of people freaked out – and rightly so.
How could it be that such a simple coding exploit could cause such a drama!
In the end, Twitter did well to shut it down, and it appears over – for now.
However, what could come are more similar attempts, so we need to be wary of that.
At times like this, the thugs come out, and start tempting us with ‘pop up’ messages saying our computer is at risk, and click here to perform a virus scan or install anti-virus software.
Now is NOT the time to click these links – in fact, never is a good time to click those links.
Security is an ongoing concern, and tonight, I have two pieces of advice.
1/ CHANGE YOUR PASSWORD – Tonight’s twitter problem will NOT have hacked your account. I can’t guarantee this, but on my view, its a javascript coding issue, not an account violation issue. Unless you were asked in a pop-up to enter your password. HOWEVER, this is a reminder of how quickly we can be tricked into clicking a black or red link just out of curiousity – SO – get in now, go to Twitter, Facebook, your webmail, your bank – and Change your password. Daylight savings is approaching in some states, that’s another good time to ‘remember’ to do this.
Set your password to be one you CAN REMEMBER, otherwise you get frustrated and the next time you set it, you make it your child’s name! – Wrong. Set it to your child’s name – sure, but pick a random letter in the name, and Capitalise it, then split the name down the middle and put a number in there. And to top it off, add a # or a $ or a ! if the program allows it – somewhere in the name. A name or a word – something you know. For example – mine MIGHT be – ‘Wagga Wagga’, but I’ll make my password wag33gAwAG#ga -looks tough, but once you start typing it over and over, you’ll get it right. And it will set in your mind.
2/ UPDATE YOUR INTERNET SECURITY – this is NOT just Anti Virus. Get yourself a good firewall, link checker, email scanner, phishing scam detector – whatever the company you choose calls it, you need COMPLETE Internet Security – even on a MAC – on a MAC you need to know the links you are clicking are not scams which will take your password or banking details. Simple stuff, easy to do – go get it, or update it. Simple as that.
Tonight’s drama is just a good reminder that we need to be cautious – wasn’t it great when you could leave the front or back door of the house unlocked, and go for a drive. You don’t do that any more do you? You’ll drive home no matter how far it is just to CHECK it’s locked. Take your computer and internet security just as seriously.
