Recently a number of high profile Twitter accounts have been hacked. Several CBS accounts, 60 Minutes included, were hacked earlier this month. Last week the Syrian Electronic Army had its most high profile Twitter hack, it compromised the official account of Associated Press and sent out a bogus tweet claiming that the White House had been bombed. Now the same group has hacked 11 accounts of The Guardian over the weekend, some of which still remain suspended.
James Ball of The Guardian said that the modus operandi was similar to the attack on @AP, adding that they were “really very good.” The SEA uses phishing emails, which are very cleverly disguised. They have been using this very technique to launch their recent attacks. On the other hand, Twitter is rumored to be testing two factor authentication with several high profile Twitter account holders. Two factor authentication is certainly a lot safer when compared to simple passwords. It is rumored that the folks at Twitter are clamoring to get this security solution out the door as quickly as possible so as to thwart any impending attacks on its users, high profile or not.