An Ode to Tyler Seguin; Nobody better lay a finger on my Twitter
Twitter has become one of the most widely used social media channels by consumers, businesses, and athletes, though those 160-character messages are not always coming from whom you would think. Hacked Twitter accounts can sometimes be hilarious, but the issue is not always a laughing matter and has become more widespread in recent months.
Professional athletes have been the most common and newsworthy victims of late, with the most recent being former Boston Bruins Tyler Seguin.
You got Kubricked;
Yahoo Sports recently reported that Tyler Seguin’s Twitter account was hacked shortly following the blockbuster Fourth of July trade that sent the winger to the Dallas Stars. The first tweet mimicked a line from Stanley Kubrick’s “Full Metal Jacket,” mocking people from Texas and homosexuality in one fell swoop.
The source explained that Seguin apologized for the embarrassing remark, while this was an especially damaging message for his reputation because of another anti-homosexual tweet he himself sent to the public roughly three months ago. Though this incident did not really send shockwaves through the NHL or the United States, it is a reminder of the importance of strong device and account security practices.
When the tough get going;
Politico explained in April that Twitter has been subjected to a variety of investigations and complaints from federal regulators because of potentially irresponsible and dangerous privacy protections. According to the news provider, the scariest hacking incident targeted The Associated Press, and included a tweet that stated President Obama was injured by two explosions in the White House.
The source noted that the fraudulent message had a tangible impact, with stocks on Wall Street plummeting after the two million followers of the AP’s Twitter account read the tweet. In fact, some have even purported that the incident was conducted by hackers from Syria, serving as an accurate sign of the times which include cyber terrorism.
Regardless of whether you are a business owner, athlete, politician or otherwise, security needs to be one of the main focuses when starting to communicate with the public through social media channels. Though regulators and law enforcement officials continue to look into levying sanctions and fines against those social media websites with less effective security practices, you should never rely on these companies to keep your accounts safe.
Always keep passwords tight and complex, such as including alternate letter casings, numbers, and symbols.
It will sometimes be funny and amusing to see a hacked social media count, but it will never be a good time when you’re the victim and your company loses face over the incident.
Sources:
https://www.politico.com/story/2013/04/twitter-ap-hacking-problem-90510.html“