33 High-Profile Twitter Accounts Hacked

Thank goodness for screencaps, or else most people would have missed out on the hilarity that ensued when a hacker or hackers got into the support team’s tools that allow them to change the email address associated with Twitter accounts.  Everyone had a good laugh when messages came through like: [foxnews] Breaking: Bill O Riley is gay and [ricksanchezcnn] i am high on crack right now and might not be coming into work today.  The hackers seem to particularly hate poor Rick.  The hacker(s) also got to the official Britney Spears account and Huffington Post.

However, the widespread hacking plus the new and exciting phishing scam going around has Twitter users understandably worried and tech blogs tut-tutting.  TechCrunch feels that these attacks are a sign that Twitter has “arrived,” but also that the service isn’t ready for its new status.  Being high profile means you have to be constantly vigilant against attacks, though they are not all preventable, of course.

Twitter’s official response was swift and appropriate, so at least they aren’t flailing around like Kermit the Frog amidst all these issues.  It remains to be seen how quickly they’ll announce that the security holes have been plugged.