Twitter Ramps Up Security

Twitter recently announced it is ramping up efforts to make the social networking site more secure.

The micro-blogging site is adding a user setting that lets Twitterers use HTTPS when accessing Twitter.com. HTTPS, which stands for HTTP secure, is hypertext transfer protocol combined with SSL/TLS protocol to provide a secure web identification for a network web server. This will be essential for Twitter users using the site over an unsecure WiFi connection.

To turn on HTTPS, a user just has to simply go to their settings and check the box next to Always use HTTPS, which is at the bottom of the page. In the future, Twitter is looking to make HTTPS a default setting.

This will improve the security of your account and better protect your information if you're using Twitter over an unsecured Internet connection, like a public WiFi network, where someone may be able to eavesdrop on your site activity, Twitter spokesperson Carolyn Penner wrote on the company's official blog.

Twitter has already made use of HTTPS as the default option on the official Twitter for iPhone and iPad mobile application. However, when users access Twitter through a mobile browser, it is not the default.

We are working on a solution that will share the Always use HTTPS setting across twitter.com and mobile.twitter.com, so you don't have to think about which device you're using when you want to check Twitter. If you use a third-party application, you should check to see if that app offers HTTPS, Penner wrote.