Send to a friend Print

Risk Management

Human error, not spam, brought down Twitter accounts

Author:
Posted:
09:23 06 Jul 2009
Topics:
Spam & Phishing | Twitter

An unknown number of Twitter accounts were suspended yesterday due to "human error", says the microblogging site, after earlier blaming spam attacks.

"Earlier today, we accidentally suspended a number of accounts. We regret the human error that led to these mistaken suspensions," Twitter said in a blog posting.

Twitter initially blamed a "spam cloud" indicating a massive spam attack similar to previous attacks by organisations that have flooded the microblogging service with spam messages.

"A lot of innocent-bystander accounts get massacred in the process, which they then have to restore afterwards," said Tweet scheduling service Tweetlater.

Twitter said some of the accounts suspended were using the third-party site Tweetlater. "However, Tweetlater is not to blame for these suspensions nor is it in violation of our terms," Twitter said.


Send to a friend Print
ADVERTISEMENT
SPONSORED LINKS
ADVERTISEMENT
Advertisements
QHS5-20091006.1