Whether you're a big business or a small one, chances are you have embraced social networking such as Twitter and Facebook as a new way to connect with your customers and generate business.

So, when Twitter went down last Thursday as a result of a cyber attack, you were likely affected, too. Just what the attack means for the business world is still unclear. But it is now certain that the world is hooked on tools such as Twitter and it is having a very difficult time reacting when there is a denial of service.

In a blog post, presumably hosted on an unaffected server, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone explained what happened:

"Attacks such as this are malicious efforts orchestrated to disrupt and make unavailable services such as online banks, credit card payment gateways, and in this case, Twitter for intended customers or users," he said. "We are defending against this attack now and will continue to update our status blog as we continue to defend and later investigate."

The attack provided a much-needed lesson about what happens when a site that millions of people depend on is knocked down. And it's a warning that every business needs to have backup when a DDoS invades your workplace.

Companies should take note of what happened last week. If you haven't embraced Twitter yet, make sure you know the obstacles that may come your way with any social networking operation. Don't be scared, just be defensive, knowing that it is one more target for cyberhackers out there.

For more on the Twitter attack:
- see this InformationWeek.com article

Also see these articles:
- Twitter still struggles to recover from DOS attack. Article
- Security experts investigate Twitter attack. Article
- Facebook attacked, too. Article
- Twitter outage hurts apps builders. Article

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