Twitter said in a blog post it would enforce security measures “given the unique sensitivities of the election period.”
Twitter, which was recently attacked in a hacking campaign that compromised the accounts of influential political figures and celebrities, said Thursday that it was adding more security measures for some election-related accounts in the United States.
Accounts belonging to the US the executive branch, Congress, presidential campaigns and political parties are among those Twitter said in a blog post that it will require security precautions “given the unique sensitivities of the election period.”
Accounts will be required to use a secure password, Twitter will allow default settings to help avoid unauthorized password changes and users will be actively encouraged to use two-factor authentication.
In July, hackers were able to access Twitter’s internal networks to take control of accounts, including Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to former US President Barack Obama, and apply for digital currency. Twitter also revealed that its employees have been duped to share account credentials.
Lawmakers shared concern about what would happen if a similar breach occurred the day before the US presidential the election on November 3.
After the hack, the White House said it had been in constant contact with Twitter to ensure the security of President Donald Trump’s Twitter account, which was not jeopardised in the hack.
Other categories of accounts on which Twitter demands or suggests such security measures include members of the U.S. Congress, U.S. governors and state secretaries, political candidates with Twitter’s “Election Labels” and several large U.S. news outlets and political journalists.
Twitter said that in the coming weeks it would put in place other internal security safeguards for the accounts, including better detections to help the company and account holders respond quickly to suspicious activity and increased login defenses to prevent malicious account takeover attempts.
