Social networking sites Twitter and Facebook have been hacked, and much to the consternation of millions of users it’s not the first time the online giants have had their security tested and found wanting.
Facebook now has over 250 million users and Twitter is snapping at its heels in terms of numbers of registered users. Both social media platforms have become pivotal channels for many organisations to reach out to staff or customers for work, play and the sharing of information.
Twitter is shrugging off this most recent official hacking, but the breach occurred in the most basic of ways. A hacker guessed an employees password to a personal email account and then simply stole confidential company information and crashed the service.
According to the Weekend Herald motives for denial-of-service attacks range from political to rabble-rousing to extortion, with criminal groups increasingly threatening to hobble popular websites that do not pay demanded fees, security experts told Reuters.
These attacks raise some salient points for companies, marketers and communicators.
First off, never neglect basic web hygiene by maintaining strong passwords that use a combination of letters and numbers, and keep security up-to-date.
Second, as cloud computing (the fast growing trend of storing data online ) becomes the norm and social networking sites are entrenched as an integral part of business to business communication, then a back-up to these occasionally unstable and vulnerable platforms needs to be part of the plan.
And last, aside from ensuring that contacts are saved and stored, don’t abandon real time, personal relationships and keep your brand alive and visible in the real world.
The lesson from this recent hacking incident is don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
