twitter – PSafe Blog

Fake App is Designed to Take Over Your Twitter Account

PSafe Newsroom — Sun, 10 Jun 2018 12:00:09 +0000

Phishing scams and other online cons are growing in volume and they are now coming for your Twitter account. There’s a new fake app designed to take over your account, giving cybercriminals the ability to change your information and promote their phony app through your profile. Watch out for this scam because it’s overtaking a large amount of Twitter accounts and yours could be next.

When you’re on the go and tweeting for pleasure or for work, make sure you follow common sense, especially with your Android phone. Download a security app like dfndr security, which has a full virus scan feature that does a thorough scan of your device, memory card, and SD card for any threats, promptly eliminating them. Things do happen, so remain aware of how this latest Twitter scam operates.

“Who Visits Your Twitter Profile?”
These online scam artists are talented because they’ve advertised the fake app as a tool to see who is visiting your Twitter profile. However, divulging this information is a breach of privacy and Twitter doesn’t allow this type of information to be shared. The phony app counts on people who want to grow their follower base or just terribly curious, and have successfully lured in victims with hollow promises.

Once downloaded, the app asks for permission to read tweets from your timeline, see your followers, follow new people, update your profile, and post tweets on your behalf. Yup, it can actually tweet for you, but in the form of spam. Scams, fake news, and even phishing scams are all taking your Twitter name in vain. The ultimate goal for these cybercriminals is to hook more people in and rack up a financial gain.

How to Get Rid of It?
Many have gone on Twitter to warn users about the pitfalls of this app, which seems enticing on the outside, but has caused a world of pain to many who’ve fallen for it. Thankfully, you can get rid of it without much hassle when you access Twitter on a computer.

Go to your Settings section on the site, then click Privacy, scroll down to Apps until you find the app that says “Last visits 24 hours.” Once you reach this point, click “Revoke Access” and you should be free from the app once and for all.

What Else Should I Know?
Be wary of anything you see on Twitter that seems too good to be true or asks you to click on a link without any information preceding it. These kinds of tweets are likely a scam or a phishing trap to get you to click through. Having a security app installed can help thwart threats and guard your social media accounts.

Why Bother Protecting Your Social Media Apps?

PSafe Newsroom — Mon, 14 May 2018 12:00:41 +0000

Almost everyone is connected on social media these days, and while these apps can help us communicate with anyone in the world from our mobile devices, there are some pitfalls associated with using Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. You can ultimately choose who gets to look at your account and all your private information if you take the right steps, but even then, hackers are always on the prowl with phishing scams and other cons used to steal your data.

A good way to maintain your privacy is by using dfndr security, which has a social guardian feature that lets you create an additional password to keep snoops at bay. Best of all, you get to choose which apps to protect.

Here are some reasons why you might want to consider specific protection for social media apps:

Parents and ex-girlfriends/boyfriends: Social media apps such as Facebook share all of your personal and biographical information with anyone who sees your account, especially if you don’t enforce the right privacy protocols. Not everyone needs to see your pics and status updates, especially your parents, colleagues, exes, current partners, or acquaintances. It’s worth considering activating additional security to your account. The good thing about these apps is that you can choose how much of your profile each person gets to see. You can change your security settings by hitting the down arrow on the top-right corner and choosing Settings. You can then choose Privacy and you’ll be given a slew of options regarding the visibility of your timeline, your public profile, and messaging options.
Check your privacy settings: If you don’t implement your preferred privacy settings on social media, the default settings may expose you to outsiders. Before you post anything on social media, explore each app’s privacy settings in order to choose who views your status or timeline and who doesn’t — the same is true for your profile and your personal information. You can even protect your birth date, location, or other biographical information on your account.
Social media security tips: Pick a strong password with numbers, capitalized letters and symbols for maximum security. It’s also important to use different passwords for different accounts that are not easily guessed. Plus, you should avoid accessing social media apps in public, but if you do, log out before you leave. Be wary of any links sent to you, even if they are from friends as these could be phishing scams or malware, and your friends’ accounts could have been hacked.
Protect yourself from hackers: In addition to ensuring your privacy and choosing a strong password, change your password regularly to keep hackers guessing. You may also get a message that’s not grammatically correct from a friend, which may mean that it’s coming from a hacker or a bot. Social media apps also have help centers, so if you believe you’ve been hacked or your personal information has been compromised, don’t hesitate to contact support.

Taking the above steps to stay on top of social media security can allow you to enjoy them so much more.

All About Twitter’s New Cache Clearing Option

PSafe Newsroom — Mon, 08 May 2017 15:00:58 +0000

Most Internet users are not diligent with erasing their tracks and excess data when their smartphone starts to perform more slowly. For those that understand how necessary data clearing methods are, Twitter has recently released a brand-new, cache clearing update that works just as well in mobile apps as it does in a Web browser. To take that a step further, DFNDR’s Quick Cleanup feature will nicely complement the cache clearing that Twitter offers. Use Quick Cleanup to remove junk files, cache, trash, and temporary files from your device:

If Twitter alone can cause your phone to bloat from saving unnecessary files, then imagine how much space you’ll have on your device after removing junk files from all of your apps. After using Quick Cleanup, you’ll be able to fit more apps, photos, and videos onto your Android. This works for both internal memory and SD card space, giving you the opportunity to clear cache and junk files in an array of areas.

Twitter’s New Feature

This clearing option will do the tedious work of deleting unwanted components from Twitter, contrasting greatly with how this process was handled before. This is a revolutionary move for Twitter, whose only mode for deleting cache previously was to delete the entire app and download it again. This was a major setback for Twitter history and personal usage. Eliminating this cumbersome feature has brought Twitter into the same arena as other services.

Clearing Data vs. Clearing Cache

It should be noted that there is a difference between clearing data and clearing cache. Clearing data is a more permanent option for taking memory off of an app, because it works into the foundation of the app. Clearing cache keeps the overall functions intact, including some data, but does away with more temporary material that can stand to be lost.

How to Use Twitter’s Cache Clearing Feature

Using the cache clearing feature is relatively easy. First, open Twitter. Go to the “Me” section where the profile appears, and tap the settings option. Then, go to “Data Usage” and find the tabs that say “Media” and “Web” storage. From there, clear both of those and enjoy the freedom in the space that has just been created.

This is an easy, rewarding way to free up a ton of data and gigabytes in a few short steps. Be sure to perform these actions often, though — avid Twitter users may be surprised at how quickly excess storage can be eaten up by an accumulation of usage residue.

Twitter is Testing an Anti-Harassment Feature

PSafe Newsroom — Wed, 03 May 2017 16:00:18 +0000

Twitter is often found in the crossfire between promoting free speech and being criticized for not doing enough to protect its users against online abuse. That being said, the site isn’t a safe haven for trolls, abusers, and bullies. Their team actively deletes accounts that endorse hate speech, racism, xenophobia, and terrorism. In 2016, Twitter says they blocked 360,000 users due to hate speech. That number is impressive, but their methods could be more efficient. Up until now, the site was investigating serial online abusers on a case-by-case basis. Many users considered this approach ineffective and time-consuming, because it likely couldn’t keep up with the sheer volume of accounts.

Recently, the team at Twitter announced a trio of features meant to discourage harassment on their social media site. Twitter’s aim isn’t to crush expressions of free speech. Their goals are to remove repeat offenders (who routinely harass other users) and hide questionable tweets. If Twitter’s plans are successful, you can expect to see a more user-friendly version of the popular site. The following will tell you about the three anti-harassment features Twitter is currently working on.

Cracking Down on New, Abusive Accounts

Twitter says they’re working hard to identify users who create accounts with the goal of harassing, bullying, and abusing others. These people are often repeat offenders, who have been permanently banned from the site. This new policy is meant to keep these individuals from creating new accounts, which allows Twitter to better track and prevent future abuse from happening in their online community.

Adding Safer Search Features

While it’s still in the works, Twitter is creating a feature to filter a user’s search results. “Not safe for work” (NSFW), hate speech, and abusive content will no longer appear, including tweets from accounts that have been muted or suspended. Most of these questionable tweets won’t be deleted off of Twitter, though — if you go digging, you’ll likely still be able to find them.

Hiding Harassing and Low-Quality Tweets

Soon, Twitter will have a feature to collapse tweets that are considered “low-quality” or harassing. Since the site is also a host for productive, fruitful discussion, its loyal users can opt to only see the high-quality tweets, making it easier for them to participate in the conversation. If you want to read what the trolls are saying, you can simply click a “show less relevant replies” button to see everything. Finally, you can automatically mute accounts where the user has the default “egg” profile picture, or where they haven’t confirmed their email address and phone number.

Group Your Twitter Followers Together on Android

PSafe Newsroom — Sun, 30 Apr 2017 14:00:33 +0000

One of the most inconvenient parts about keeping a social media account manageable is sorting through hundreds, if not thousands, of followers to find the one you’re looking for. This same situation can often happen on your device, as well, if you download a lot of apps. Better manage your apps by quickly removing old or unwanted apps with App Manager:

DFNDR’s App Manager, with its prime clearing functions, allows you to remove apps to gain more room on your device to house more information. It can clear applications that are taking up too much memory with one click. This will allow you to download more apps, music, and videos onto your device.

Benefits to List-Making on Twitter

Sometimes searching for a user on a social network does not get the job done as well as it should. Luckily, searching for the right follower is about to be a whole lot easier, especially on Twitter.

There are several benefits to doing this besides simply following friends and fan pages. This allows users to keep tabs on other users that might not want to be hounded by their tweets on a constant basis. It also serves to connect Twitter users with like-minded social media users. You can choose to make it private or public, based on the content of your lists. This is a smart choice for necessary information that needs to be delivered to certain parties, for publicity purposes and more.

How to Group Followers Together

Go into the “Lists” menu bar on your Twitter account. Select “New Lists” and hit the plus sign. The option to name your new list will appear, along with blank spaces. When that has been saved, only then can you visit individual Twitter profiles and go into their personal options, hitting “Add to List” as it corresponds with the new list made. It is also possible to remove selected profiles from the list by performing the same actions it took to add them, and simply hitting the remove option.
So, the only real setting up you have to do is the initial separation of followers into different list categories. After that, your searches will be simple and quick. Do not forget to press “save” when done making a list. Also, be sure to explore the other options for creating lists, to be prepared for any crossover of lists onto different tech. The app provides this action, as well as other services, to Android and iOS components.

Someone Hacked John Legend’s Twitter Account

PSafe Newsroom — Sun, 16 Apr 2017 16:00:58 +0000

John Legend is certainly one of many celebrities on Twitter whose accounts you want to follow. But his celebrity also means that he is of more interest to hackers. And that’s just what happened to the Grammy winner — his Twitter was hacked recently. While Legend and and wife Chrissy Teigen found this Twitter hack amusing, hacks aren’t often any fun. If you’re worried about your account being hacked or your personal information being stolen, use the Anti-Hacking tool to be safer while browsing the web:

Unfortunately, social networking sites and web browsers don’t automatically block you from malicious websites or links. Once activated, Anti-Hacking will ensure that you don’t enter any of your personal information on a dangerous website. It will block you from malicious sites and warn you of suspicious sites, to keep you safe from malware and hackers.

John Legend’s Hacked Account

Once the hacker gained control of Legend’s account, he posted some amusing and disturbing messages. The poster focused on political subjects, posting tweets about Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. For example, the hacker called President Trump “a Cheeto.” Some of these political posts were violent or sexual in nature, and when he regained control of his account, Legend was quick to distance himself from them.

John Legend’s Response

John Legend, like his music, was calm about the hacking. In fact, he laughed at the absurdity of the hacker’s messages. In fact, Legend himself started posting on Twitter, letting his fans know that he had been hacked. For example, he posted the Tweet: “Someone just hacked my account” to let his followers know he hadn’t been posting the bizarre messages. He then posted: “I’m back. My hacker was vulgar and kinda hilarious. I’ll try to be funnier from now on so he won’t feel the need to ghost write for me.”

Chrissy Teigen’s Response

Chrissy Teigen is one of the most popular celebrities on Twitter with her funny and true-to-life tweets. Like her husband, Teigen found the tweets funny. Teigen was clued into the attack on her husband’s social media after one of her followers private messaged her about her husband’s new Twitter bio, which described the singer’s private parts in a less-than-flattering way. It’s not surprising that this happened, though. In fact, Teigen made fun of her husband the same week his account was hacked, comparing him to the animated aardvark, Arthur, on her own Twitter account.

Twitter Has Signed a New Live Streaming Deal

PSafe Newsroom — Wed, 05 Apr 2017 20:00:55 +0000

It largely started with Twitter’s deal with the NFL for streaming live football games on Thursdays. Since that went incredibly well — more than two million Twitter users tuned in each week to watch the games — Twitter has decided to introduce more live content to the platform. Twitter will now be live streaming more than 1,500 hours of eSports, in addition to original content, on the service. This is a great move by Twitter, considering that the eSports market is expected to be worth about $1 billion dollars by 2019.

What Will the New ContentI include?

Twitter has partnered with ESL and DreamHack to allow Twitter users to stream more than 15 live events from ESL One, DreamHack, and Intel Extreme Masters (IEM). Additionally, ESL will contribute live original content in the form of a 30-minute show. This includes behind-the-scenes footage and highlights from live events. All of the content will be available worldwide. You can access all of the live content simply by going to Twitter’s website or by using the Twitter app. You can use the app on your Android phone or download the app on your Android TV.

Twitter began streaming IEM and ESL One event is in March of this year. All DreamHack events will be live-streamed starting in April. If these live-streamed events are popular on Twitter, Twitter is then likely to introduce more content on the service.

Good News for Twitter
Twitter’s success with live streaming sports content has allowed Twitter to receive more revenue from advertising. For these live-streamed sports events, Twitter has been running TV-like commercial breaks within content. Ads may also include highlights and sponsored recap clips. This is great news for Twitter, because it has largely struggled with increasing its advertising revenue, unlike other social networks such as Facebook and Instagram.

Further, Twitter’s new streaming deals may attract new users to Twitter. Twitter has had a lot of trouble attracting new users to the service over the years. However, Twitter is still one of the best social networks to use for live content or reacting to live content. It has been extremely popular for reacting to live TV shows such as The Bachelor, sharing information on current news events or natural disasters, and watching live events related to sports and politics. If this is any indication of Twitter’s future, it certainly seems like Twitter will have more success with live video.

How to Use the Twitter’s Explore Feature on Android

PSafe Newsroom — Sat, 25 Mar 2017 18:00:23 +0000

It’s no secret that Twitter is not as popular as it once was. However, it is still one of the most popular social networking apps around, along with Snapchat, Facebook, and Instagram. In order to inspire more people to join Twitter, the social network has been trying to add a series of new features to make it more appealing to users. Many of these features, such as a mute button and allowing links to be exempt from the 140-character limit, were eagerly requested by current Twitter users.

Even though Twitter has many of the same features as the other social networking apps — you can “friend” users, share articles and photos, and communicate with a variety of people, among others — Twitter has not seen the same success. Further, Twitter is probably not your primary news source, unlike Facebook — more than 50% of Facebook users receive their news from the social network. Since characters on Twitter are limited to 140, this social network hasn’t been the best outlet for typing out extensive news stories. However, it has been successful at delivering breaking news quickly.

The searching required for finding news on Twitter can also dissuade people from using it as a news outlet. For example, you often have to dig through multiple hashtags and read through a number of pointless tweets to find what you’re looking for. However, the “explore” tab on Twitter is about to change all of this.

The explore feature on Twitter conglomerate all of their users’ favorite interests into one news section. Utilizing advanced algorithmic technologies, Twitter personally tailor your explore tabs to your needs. For example, if you frequently search for sports on Twitter, then you can expect to see plenty of sports information on your explore feature. The accounts you follow are also taken into account for your explore tab.

News is now easier than ever to access on Twitter thanks to this development. Instead of searching all over Twitter to find your news, it is now right in front of your eyes on the explore tab. Moreover, these links lead to other websites, not just other short tweets. Thus, if there is a piece of breaking news on your explore tab, you will be redirected to a news website when you click on the story.

As a result, Twitter is now a much more attractive site for the dissemination of news. Facebook now has a viable competitor when it comes to news on social media outlets. Hopefully this news competition will facilitate a variety of different means to access your daily news sources on social media.

Sony Music’s Twitter Account Was Recently Hacked

PSafe Newsroom — Wed, 08 Feb 2017 14:42:38 +0000

On December 26, 2016, one of Sony Music’s Twitter account, @SonyMusicGlobal, tweeted that Britney Spears had died. They reported that she had died around 8 in the morning. The language of the tweet immediately suggested that their Twitter account had been hacked. The tweet said: “britney spears is dead by accident! we will tell you more soon #RIPBritney.” As to why the hacking group chose Britney Spears, they most likely targeted her as a “joke.” Still, that didn’t stop some users from believing the tweet, or at least finding it important enough to retweet. Thousands of Twitter users found the news to be significant.

An issue of poor security.

Many suspect that the hacking group was able to gain access to these accounts through leaked password information from previous security breaches. This incident certainly reiterates how important it is to make sure all of your online accounts are secure. In addition to making stronger passwords, and changing your passwords regularly, try using two-step verification to make your accounts stronger. To make your accounts even more secure, make sure to lock your apps and add password protection so that only you can access your information. Click here to lock your apps now:

How long did it take for Sony Music to regain their account?

Within the same hour, a rep for Britney Spears confirmed that she was still alive. During that same hour, @SonyMusicGlobal acknowledged that the tweet was not theirs. They reported that someone with a new IP address had accessed their account and posted about Britney Spears’s death. They confirmed that Spears had not died. They also added the hashtag, “#OurMine,” which directly refers to a hacking group that is known for hacking social networking accounts in a similar manner.

Who was behind the attack?

According to Tech Crunch, the hacking group, OurMine, is likely made up of younger people from around the world. Their mission, reportedly, is to test the security of various social networking accounts belonging to people or brands of influence. One way that they do this is to check for an account’s password strength. Once they gain access to an account, they typically post that their group has hacked the account, and tell the victim to contact an email address about how they can improve their security.

Over the past year they have hacked Mark Zuckerberg’s social networking accounts, Sundar Pichai’s Quora account, and Jack Dorsey’s Twitter account, among others. They also recently hacked Twitter accounts belonging to Netflix and Marvel, in addition to hacking Buzzfeed’s website.

The Most Followed Celebrity Twitter Accounts

PSafe Newsroom — Wed, 18 Jan 2017 16:00:15 +0000

When it comes to social networks, Twitter is now a household name — it’s right up there with Facebook. With an estimated 317 active monthly users, Twitter is a giant. Despite the limited “microblogging” services available on the site, users still log on to read, retweet, and respond to 140-character messages. Or, they simply (and anonymously) follow along with the tweets that are curated for them in their personalized feed.

A Short History of Twitter

This social networking service can be accessed via the Web or their mobile application. It was founded in 2006, and became one of the top 10 most visited websites by 2013. The company announced its initial public offering later in 2013, with a closing valuation at $31 billion dollars.

Since then, Twitter’s popularity has significantly declined. It is unclear what Twitter’s future will be like, since celebrities, socialites, and influencers — along with agencies, corporations, and foundations — continue to have an active presence across the platform. See below for the celebs and public figures who have the most Twitter followers on the platform.

Katy Perry, 95.2 million followers
This pop sensation holds the title for most Twitter followers — she even beats out second place by over 4 million followers. The star is relatively active on the account, and tweets multiple times a week. She shares her thoughts, links to her Instagram account, and links to articles. She also frequently shares information about the charities she is most passionate about.

Justin Bieber, 91 million followers
In second place is Justin Bieber. Although the singer is usually very brief on Twitter, he often promotes his upcoming concerts and appearances. He also frequently retweets mentions of himself or his trending songs.

Taylor Swift, 82.9 million followers
The global popstar, despite having a massive following, isn’t particularly active on her Twitter account. Still, she has been surrounded by a lot of drama on various social networks, such as Twitter, for her feuds with other celebs like Kanye West and Katy Perry. Nonetheless, Swift maintains a relatively low-key presence.

Barack Obama, 80.3 million followers
Rounding out the list is the 44th POTUS, who tweets updates about his appearances, speeches, and worldwide news. Even though the account isn’t always in the first person (after all, he’s a busy man), it helps followers stay in the know about what the president is working on. The account also tweets links to organizations and causes that the president supports like Healthcare.gov, climate change, and women’s rights.