Hackers Target Twitter: Reports
NEW YORK (
--
continues to be the
of scoundrels and shenanigan-doers, as reports emerge of a worm targeting Twitter.
says that the worm is being spread via direct messages from users, and is part of a dangerous
phishing
scam. A message thread on the
Web site explains that users are receiving a message which says "rofl this your on here", which invites them to click on a link. The link reportedly takes users to a fake Twitter login page where hackers steal their account information and send out more infected messages.
This is not the first time that Twitter has been targeted by hackers, and this latest incident shows cyber security should still be a paramount concern for both companies and individuals.
Companies like
McAfee
(MFE)
,
Microsoft
(MSFT) - Get Report
and
Symantec
(SYMC) - Get Report
are locked in a battle to
both consumer and business data, with McAfee said to be
at the heels of share leader Symantec.
Twitter, which is close to a deal for $100 million in new funding from investors, according to the
Wall Street Journal
, has become a
social networking
phenomenon since its launch in 2006. It has been estimated, for example, that around
of Americans use Twitter on a regular basis.
The social networking site has yet to respond to a request for comment from
TheStreet
on the reported worm.
Twitter is not the only Web site in the news Thursday as some
(GOOG) - Get Report
users have reportedly had difficulty accessing the contacts section of Gmail. Twitter was bombarded with comments on the glitch Thursday.
A Google spokesperson acknowledged the issue in a statement emailed to
TheStreet
. "A problem with Google Contacts caused many Gmail users to experience slowness and degraded service for about an hour today," the statement reads. "Mail was back to full speed for everyone around 8am Pacific and the issue affecting Contacts was resolved shortly after."
Written by James Rogers in New York
