Twitter on a phishing hunt

Twitter went on the offensive this week to stop phishing and other malware. The popular microblogging service launched a new link-screening service. The new service includes a new Twitter tool to shorten URLs so users will see some links in email notifications and direct messages from users written as twt.tl, the microblogger said in a blog post.

"By routing all links submitted to Twitter through this new service, we can detect, intercept and prevent the spread of bad links," the blog post said. "Even if a bad link is already sent out in an email notification and somebody clicks on it, we'll be able to keep that user safe," it said without elaborating.

The new tool is much needed. Phishing attacks on Twitter ballooned last year as the service became more popular. And hopefully it will help a growing number of businesses turning to Twitter to be able to ferret out the problems before their tweets are attacked.

For more on Twitter:
- see this Computerworld.com article

Related Articles:
Bing and Google announce Twitter search
Twitter becomes a security risk