Identity Theft News

Biz Stone explains data theft from Twitter's Google Apps

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Twitter co-founder Biz Stone said yesterday that a hacker who gained access to a Twitter employee's personal email account was able to infiltrate the popular social network's Google Apps account to steal confidential company documents, underscoring the potential pitfalls of weak passwords and lax email security.

The hacker, known by the handle Hacker Croll, distributed files to various websites from Twitter's Google Docs, Calendar and "other Google Apps Twitter relies on for sharing notes, spreadsheets, ideas, financial details and more within the company," Stone said on the Twitter blog (hosted on Google's Blogger).

"Since then, we have performed a security audit and reminded everyone of the importance of personal security guidelines," Stone said in the post.

The website TechCrunch said Tuesday that it had received a zip file containing 310 documents, ranging from executive meeting notes and financial projections to salaries of Twitter employees.

Stone said the data theft was not a result of flaws in Google Apps, but due to the fact that Twitter is under "a spotlight" putting a target on employees.

Google observed on its security blog that it has security measures in place for users of Gmail and other apps for business customers that make password recovery more secure, including an option for password recovery by mobile phone.
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