Twitter is used by millions of people for business and for pleasure each day. While most Twitter users use the site in positive and appropriate manners, some members still fall victim to hackers taking over their accounts. Having your Twitter account hacked is an unnerving and frustrating experience. However, if you feel that your Twitter account has been compromised, you can take steps to regain control and prevent future hacking.
Determine If Account Has Been Hacked
If you feel like your account has been compromised, take a few moments to review the account. Warning signs that your account has been hacked include, but aren’t limited
- Unexpected tweets or direct messages sent from your account.
- Un-following or blocking that were not done by you.
- Receiving a message from Twitter stating that you have recently updated the email address associated with your account.
Update Password
The first thing to do when you suspect that your Twitter account has been hacked is to immediately change your password. I recommend you use a service like Strong Password Generator to create your new unique password. It is highly important that you do not use the same password for all the websites you visit.
If you are unable to sign into your Twitter account, use the password reset form found at https://twitter.com/account/resend_password. If, after sending the form, you don’t receive an email with instructions on how to reset your password, send a support request form by https://support.twitter.com/forms/signin
Third-Party Applications
This is the most important step. Once you have regained secure access to your Twitter account, you need to take a moment to block any third-party applications that are accessing your Twitter account. From within your Twitter account,
- Click Account Settings and select the Apps tab.
- Click the Revoke Access button to the right of any third-party applications that you do not regularly use.
Protect Your Account
To protect your Twitter account from being hacked in the future
- Use a strong unique password that is difficult to guess.
- Use a service like Lastpass or 1Password to securely protect and store your passwords.
- Never give your username and password to any unknown third-party applications or any other person.
- When logging into your Twitter account, ensure you are on Twitter’s site before entering any sign-in information.
- Watch for any suspicious links in your Twitter feed or email.
- Ensure your computer’s security software is up-to-date.
