With hackers feasting on social networking sites — and the historically laissez faire attitude of its users — Twitter is taking matters into its own hands by issuing a list of passwords it deems inadequate for safeguarding users accounts. eSecurityPlanet.com details some of the prohibited passwords and the legitimate security issues Twitter and other social networking sites are facing in the new year.
Twitter, the online phenomenon that’s also become a hacker’s playground, is now banning a total of 370 passwords — some common, some not — for new users registering to join the microblogging site.
The list of verboten passwords, which is posted on a number of niche blogs, includes the usual suspects such as “password” and “twitter” as well as bunch of sports nicknames like “redsox” and “yankees.”
President Obama and CNN reporter Rick Sanchez were among dozens of Twitter accounts compromised in January after hackers managed to crack their passwords, forcing Twitter to reevaluate its sign-up process and technologies.
But that wasn’t the only security issue social networking sites and their patrons had to contend with throughout the year.