The best way to avoid having your brand's Twitter account get hacked may now be to sign up for the social network's new two-factor login identification service, which requires a special security code, most commonly a mobile phone number, to unlock an account.
The service is debuting for US accounts first. The company appears to be making the move in response to a being under a consent decree with the FTC because of its lax security practices.
Hackers have been breaking in to Twitter accounts to post bogus tweets for years now. It has affected many travel companies and travel experts, as well as national brands like Burger King and the Associated Press.
The blame typically falls on easy-to-guess passwords and poor workflows for security -- two problems that remain persistent throughout the travel industry.
Phishing attempts on a company's e-mail network can fool even cautious employees, who are essentially tricked into revealing passwords to hackers. In one tactic, employees are duped into revealing a brand's Twitter password to operate a supposed Web service or to reply to a supposed request from Twitter itself.
This video explains how to enable the new identification service: