Twishing

What Does Twishing Mean?

Twishing is a form of phishing that is perpetrated through the social network Twitter. Phishing denotes an attempt to obtain personal information so as to steal another user’s identity. Twishing comes in the form of a brief Twitter message directing the user to a website that might spark their curiosity. Once the user logs on to the fraudulent site, the attacker can obtain personal information and use it to steal the user’s identity.

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Techopedia Explains Twishing

The term Twishing is a combination of phishing and Twitter. Twishers send ou bait and hope to trick a few naive users.

Computer security experts warn never to reveal personal information such as passwords or other identifying data on an unfamiliar website and to remember that legitimate sites such as online shopping companies or financial institutions will never ask users to reveal their pass codes. In 2009, Twitter took a big Twishing hit in which 33 accounts were hacked.

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Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…