Search Engine Optimization News Blog

Last week a phishing scheme hit Twitter – the first large scale hit on Twitter. People were receiving emails to go and check out a story. The emails took them to a ‘Twitter login page’, and their usernames and passwords were being captured. Fortunately, Twitter acted quickly to resolve the problem, and the damage was quite limited and contained. Another story that made headlines was the hacking of Twitter accounts belonging to people like Barack Obama, also quickly dealt with.

Facebook also recently received a visit from phishers – wall requests have been going out and many people’s friends lists being targeted for false emails. MySpace has been hit over and over by phishing scams and other hacks – social networks are reeling.

There is an easy fix however – simply be paranoid. Any emails you get , double check the URL of the page they send you to – and if it seems the least bit off, go to your social site by means of a trusted favorites tab or bookmark, or by typing the URL directly.

Phishing for email addresses and other info is getting more and more popular once again, as people spread out on the web and become more open to attack. Deliberate attacks rose in 2008 to twice what they had been in past years, despite vigilant attempts by Google and others to decrease the amount of spam. Continual vigilance is the only true answer.