Twitter starts rolling out HTTPS by default – good news for security and Ashton Kutcher

In a step which will be welcomed by its security-conscious users, Twitter has announced that it is beginning to turn on HTTPS by default.

Why is this important? Just ask Ashton Kutcher.

Kutcher attended the brainbox TED Conference earlier this year, and connected to the unencrypted WiFi hotspot provided. A nearby hacker, possibly using a tool such as Firesheep, was able to jump onto Kutcher’s Twitter session and post pro-SSL graffiti in his name.

Unfortunately, if you log into Twitter over unencrypted WiFi – e.g. at a coffee shop or an airport lounge and you don’t have HTTPS enabled, then a hacker could sniff your session cookie. And anyone who can sniff your session cookie can pretend to be you.

That means they can post tweets as you or read your private direct messages. And you don’t want…

Read more in my article on the Naked Security website.

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Graham Cluley •   @gcluley

Graham Cluley is a veteran of the anti-virus industry having worked for a number of security companies since the early 1990s when he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows. Now an independent security analyst, he regularly makes media appearances and is an international public speaker on the topic of computer security, hackers, and online privacy. Follow him on Twitter at @gcluley, on Mastodon at @[email protected], or drop him an email.