Web Forum: Internet news

Mar 5 2010 by Andrew Jackson, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

EVERYONE loves Twitter so much even celebrities have rushed to sign up.

Sadly, some of those celebs – even ministers in Her Majesty’s Government – got caught out last week when a phishing episode got out of hand on Twitter.

Phishing is a common practice by online scammers trying to get your username and password. Usually it happens via email – you get a message that looks like one from your bank or from eBay or something like that. It includes links that take you to official-looking websites where you’re asked for your login details.

And, of course, once you’ve entered them there you’ve just handed your info over to the scammers and they’ve got control of your account.

The difference with this latest attack is that it happened on Twitter via messages sent from one user to another. The messages said ‘this you?’ or ‘LOL this is funny’ and had a link to click. That link took you to something that looked like Twitter, but wasn’t at all.

However, it looked convincing enough to take in people like Ed Miliband, Cabinet Secretary for Energy and Climate Change (twitter.com/EdMilibandMP) and Harriet Harman, Labour’s Deputy Leader (twitter.com/harrietharman).

Many thousands of ordinary Twitter users ended up giving their passwords away to strangers.

To avoid being phished, keep an eye on the address bar at the top of your browser. If the address looks even slightly odd, don’t enter any personal details into any boxes.

WHAT DO PEOPLE REALLY THINK OF YOU?

Your best friends know your faults, but will probably never tell you what they are. Failings (failin.gs) is a new website where they can let rip anonymously. You sign up for free, then tell everyone you know about your webpage there.

BROWSING ... FUNNY CATS

The internet is apparently made of cats: www.rathergood.com/cats

Cats + Chat Roulette = Cat Roulette: catroulette.tumblr.com

The Infinite Cat Project:www.infinitecat.com

The hilarious adventures of Simon’s cat:www.simonscat.com

Cats in sinks. That’s it. www.catsinsinks.com