Cybersecurity
Twitter Settles U.S. Charges Over Hacker Attacks
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Twitter Inc., the microblogging service with about 190 million visitors per month, agreed to settle a U.S. government complaint that security lapses allowed hackers to view private messages and send “tweets” from other people’s accounts.
Failures in the company’s data security allowed hackers to gain administrative control of Twitter, the Federal Trade Commission said in a statement today announcing its complaint and settlement. One hacker sent a bogus tweet in January 2009 from the account of then-President-elect Barack Obama offering his followers a chance to win $500 in free gasoline.