Twittering with Insecurity
by Holly Sanders Ware
For such a sophisticated and secretive company, Twitter is proving to be an awfully easy target for computer hackers.
A hacker swiped hundreds of confidential documents about Twitter and its employees after breaking into the e-mail and Internet accounts of several Twitter workers, including co-founder Evan Williams.
Among the stolen documents are floor plans for the firm's new San Francisco office, a pitch for a possible Twitter-themed reality TV show and growth projections for the micro-blogging site. The hacker also lifted private information from employee accounts, including resumes, credit-card numbers and phone logs.
The hacker, who uses the identity "Hacker Croll," leaked the documents yesterday to TechCrunch, an industry site run by Michael Arrington, and a French blog called Korben.
In May, the same hacker infiltrated a Twitter employee's account and from there gained access to the Twitter accounts of several high-profile users, including Ashton Kutcher and Britney Spears. The episode followed a security breech earlier in the year, when someone broke into a number of Twitter accounts.
In a blog posting, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone emphasized that this latest attack was on employees and that the hacker didn't gain access to the Twitter service or individual users.
Arrington said he has more than 300 documents in his possession -- some of them potentially embarrassing. For instance, there are documents showing the names of people who interviewed for jobs at Twitter but work at other companies. Arrington said he won't release personal information, but will make public corporate documents with "news value."
So far, he has only posted the pitch for the Twitter TV show.
The French blogger Korben, meanwhile, has exercised similar restraint. He posted the firm's growth projections, including 25 million users this year, 100 million by the end of next year and 350 million by the end of 2011. Twitter hopes to be the first Web service to hit 1 billion users.
The blogger said he has Twitter's revenue growth projections as well -- a tantalizing bit of information considering the company doesn't have an obvious plan for making money -- but will not share them.
He did post the new floor plans along with an employee "wish list" of amenities, including a meditation hall, a wine cellar and an aquarium. Apparently, Twitter also has plans to sell merchandise including T-shirts and hats.
For such a sophisticated and secretive company, Twitter is proving to be an awfully easy target for computer hackers.
A hacker swiped hundreds of confidential documents about Twitter and its employees after breaking into the e-mail and Internet accounts of several Twitter workers, including co-founder Evan Williams.
Among the stolen documents are floor plans for the firm's new San Francisco office, a pitch for a possible Twitter-themed reality TV show and growth projections for the micro-blogging site. The hacker also lifted private information from employee accounts, including resumes, credit-card numbers and phone logs.
The hacker, who uses the identity "Hacker Croll," leaked the documents yesterday to TechCrunch, an industry site run by Michael Arrington, and a French blog called Korben.
In May, the same hacker infiltrated a Twitter employee's account and from there gained access to the Twitter accounts of several high-profile users, including Ashton Kutcher and Britney Spears. The episode followed a security breech earlier in the year, when someone broke into a number of Twitter accounts.
In a blog posting, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone emphasized that this latest attack was on employees and that the hacker didn't gain access to the Twitter service or individual users.
Arrington said he has more than 300 documents in his possession -- some of them potentially embarrassing. For instance, there are documents showing the names of people who interviewed for jobs at Twitter but work at other companies. Arrington said he won't release personal information, but will make public corporate documents with "news value."
So far, he has only posted the pitch for the Twitter TV show.
The French blogger Korben, meanwhile, has exercised similar restraint. He posted the firm's growth projections, including 25 million users this year, 100 million by the end of next year and 350 million by the end of 2011. Twitter hopes to be the first Web service to hit 1 billion users.
The blogger said he has Twitter's revenue growth projections as well -- a tantalizing bit of information considering the company doesn't have an obvious plan for making money -- but will not share them.
He did post the new floor plans along with an employee "wish list" of amenities, including a meditation hall, a wine cellar and an aquarium. Apparently, Twitter also has plans to sell merchandise including T-shirts and hats.
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