I'm Not Picking on Twitter

Really. It's just that they seem to make the news so much lately, and the stories are brimming with real world security lessons.

According to an article in today's Network World, hackers - can I call them twackers? - broke into several accounts and posted a link to a naughty tape featuring Leighton Meester.

(Let me pause for a moment to confess my pop-culture illiteracy. I don't tweet, and for all I know Leighton Meester is a German physicist.)

Anyway. The link was posted on pwnd twitter accounts including one belonging to technology guru Guy Kawasaki. Curious readers who wanted to learn more about the attractive physicist landed on a fake porn site that attempted to install malware on their computers.

Because of the sheer volume of users, Twitter has become a popular hunting ground for scammers. Kawasaki's site alone boasts almost 140,000 followers. If a twacker can fool a fraction of those users into following a bogus link, they can plant malware to steal lots of passwords and account information, or enlist scores of new zombies for their botnet.

What can you do?

• Always be suspicious online
• Stay away from porn sites - you might catch something
• Don't think you're safe just because you use a Mac - this program attacked Macs as well as PCs
• Establish an Internet and social media policy for business users
• Consider a service like AVG LinkScanner which scans websites for malware in real-time