Worse still was the fact that as Twitter struggled to rectify the situation, it temporarily removed subscriber’s followers.  Celebrities found themselves in the traumatic position of being unpopular…at least for a while!

On the flip side, the bug enabled millions of people to force celebrities, such as Lady Gaga, to follow their tweets simply by typing “accept@ladygaga”.

Farcical though the story was, it did highlight three major concerns that users should be mindful of:

1. While this attack was relatively harmless, the attacker could have directed users to a page full of drive-by downloads and exploits

2. Social networks are inherently viral, they multiply all by themselves.  Just last week AVG discovered a variety of Facebook apps that were spreading via Friend lists to install adware

3. The web is the current attack surface of choice.  You should be running some type of dedicated webscanning programme to help guard against harmful links.

So, how can users protect themselves against these types of hacks?

Limit what you say
It’s easy to tweet about where you are and what you’re doing, but do you think about who is listening? What might seem like a harmless comment initially could be used to piece together a picture of your whereabouts and plans! Unless your tweets are protected, they are going to be out in the public domain. Fraudsters can use this information in many ways!

Be careful what you click on
Be suspicious about links that you are sent and that are posted. Many people use URL shortners on Twitter so it is often very difficult to check what you are clicking on. AVG Linkscanner can help check suspicious links, but remember if in doubt, don’t click!

Be vigilant
Watch out for suspicious activity in your tweet stream and inbox. If you start receiving strange messages or your friends are being unusually spammy, it might be worth double checking their account hasn’t been compromised.

Think before you tweet
Remember the whole world can see what you write and even though tweets can be deleted, they are still searchable. Don’t tweet when you’re drunk/angry/emotional, while it is funny thinking about it the consequences are often not as amusing. Additionally, by including ‘hash tags’ increase the search for your chosen term so spend time considering exactly who will be searching for your tweets.

Don’t be too trusting
You can never be sure the stranger you ‘networked’ with via Twitter is who they say they are. Don’t be easily befriended by strangers on Twitter who may not have your best interests at heart.

Check third party applications
There are hundreds of applications out there for Twitter, before signing up to one of these check they are safe. You can do this by looking for mentions of the tools on trusted sites. Remember that the apps generally require your password and log in details so be extra cautious on sharing this information.

The same basic rules that apply to other social networking sites can also be applied to Twitter, so don’t forget the following too

Password information
Use different passwords, or even better still, set up separate email accounts for your social networks, that way if you stop your account you can easily delete the email account too. Be mindful of where you are sending your updates and the types of security questions you set.

Signing in
Check your browser settings on your computer, so that your information is not stored for anyone else to see if you are on a shared computer!

Watch out for phishing attacks
As Twitter gets more popular the likeliness of phishing attacks grows. Be aware of attempts to get users to give up their login and passwords by tricking them with fake tweets and direct messages.

Being mobile
Be mindful about who might have access to your mobile phone. If you have a Twitter application, make sure you log out once you’re finished with it.

For more information on how to protect yourself online, visit: www.avg.com
Roger Thompson is Chief Research Officer for AVG

In essence, Twitter is a quick and simple way of keeping in touch with others by letting them know with short messages what you are doing right now.

“Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?”

But like other social networking tools, it can add value to your business, too.

The downside with all social networking is that there is no quick ‘n easy way to gain quality leads or business.  It is time consuming.  The more time you put in, the more likely you are to reap a reward.

Therefore, the main piece of advice I can give you, is to use your time wisely. Keep a focus on your goals.  Don’t get distracted or you will be several hours down before you know it, with the word ‘fun‘ replacing ‘business opportunities‘.

How can a Twitter account help your business?

By posting regular short messages on what you are doing, other twitters will ‘follow‘ you.  That means they will be notified whenever you ‘twitter’.

If you are willing to interact, answer questions, give free advice etc, your twitter will become popular; and with the odd link to your products and services, as long as it is in context and clearly not a blatant attempt to simply drive traffic to your website and leads to your business, you can find, like with all social networking tools, that Twitter will reward your business with new customers.

How do I start with Twitter?

You can get started by setting up an account and following a few simple instructions at www.Twitter.com.  But I recently found a very good free Mastering Twitter eBook which will give you all you need to know about how to Twitter.

Twitter is going to continue growing this year, so get started now.