The above title is from an article in Reuters today. In it, they state the popular tech news website, TechCrunch.com, received information via email stolen from Twitter on the popular social websites financials, and other sensitive company information.
While the information may be interesting, and even newsworthy or valuable, it is clearly wrong to post or use malicious information of this sort, considering especially that Twitter has done nothing wrong. Either way, the posting of the information is not appropriate in my opinion.
The real question here to me is, how did the thieves hack into Twitter's system to gain the information?
My suspicion is that in all likely hood it was an inside job. Most of these types of scrupulous operations need an inside person to help gain access to sensitive materials. Though I admit, that is not necessarily true and may not be the case in this situation.
Unfortunately, by this happening to Twitter it proves that we are all susceptible to hackers and online thieves at some level.
How can you prevent sensitive personal information from being stolen?
First, don't share your information with anyone. And if you must, keep it to a very few number so that it may be possible to identify who could be providing the information. Of course, that is a very pessimistic view, and hopefully doesn't happen to you, or your company.
Second, some industry experts say don't log onto websites such as your bank accounts, etc., in public networks where hackers can be lurking. It could be a recipe for disaster and you will likely not even know it until it is too late.
Third, be sure to keep your computer clean of spyware and viruses that can help hackers gain access to your computer(s). This was probably not an issue for Twitter. But, it could be one for you. You'll want reliable spyware and virus protection software to help keep your computer safe. Please keep in mind, they may not be full proof, but they are very helpful.
The FBI has a list of helpful things you can do as well to protect your computer. Click here to read their list of things to consider.
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