Your secret Twitter account may not be as anonymous as you ...

Many people quietly run anonymous Twitter accounts, but new UK research shows they are still easily identifiable. Login TECHNOLOGY BUSINESS ENTERPRISE COMMS START-UPS ALL SCIENCE INNOVATION MACHINES CLIMATE ALL CAREERS ADVICE PEOPLE EMPLOYERS JOBSNEWS ALL FUTUREHUMAN MORE VIDEO ADVERTISE FOLLOWUS CONTACT ABOUT COOKIE&PRIVACYPOLICY Login Subscribe BUSINESS ENTERPRISE COMMS START-UPS ALL ENTERPRISE YoursecretTwitteraccountmaynotbeasanonymousasyouthink byEllenTannam 9Jul2018 Savearticle Twitterapponmobile.Image:InGreen/Shutterstock NewresearchfromtheUKshowsjusthoweasyitistoidentifytheauthorsoftweetsusingmetadata. Inpolarisingnewslastweek,EUMEPsvotedtore-examinecontroversialchangestocopyrightlaw,withsomeinternetadvocateswarningthatthedigitalfabricofsocietyitselfcouldbealteredforever.Here’showeverymemberstatevoted. Overat Facebook,thecompanyconfirmedthatblockeduserswereabletoseesomecontentpostedbypeoplewhohadblockedthem.800,000userswereaffectedbythebug,whichwasactivebetween29Mayand5June. FollowingareportatthebeginningofJulyintothepracticeofthird-partydevelopersaccessingGmailmessages,Googleissuedastatementdispellingsomerumoursandexplaininghowuserscanbecomemoreawareofwhattheyaresigningupfor.Somedetractorssayitisacompany’sjobtoensurecustomersareconsciousofwhattheyareactuallyagreeingtowhentheysignupforservices. YourprivateTwitteraccountcouldstillgiveyouaway Theubiquityofmetadataintoday’sworldissomethingnoteveryoneisawareof,butanewpaperbyresearchersattheAlanTuringInstituteandUniversityCollegeLondon(UCL)showsjusthowmanydigitalbreadcrumbswedropbehindus,particularlyonTwitter. Theresearchersusedtweetsandtheassociatedmetadatatoidentifyanysingleuserinagroupof10,000atanastonishing96.7pcaccuracyrate. BeatricePerezofUCLtoldWiredthatpeopleassumemetadatadoesnotposeanimmediateprivacyrisk.“Peoplethinkit’snotabigdeal.But,coupleitwithanotherpieceofinformationandIknowwhenyou’rehomeornot.” Metadatatypesgleanedfromtweetsandanalysedthroughmachine-learningalgorithmsincludednumberoffavourites,Twitterfollowersandtimepublished.Obfuscatingthedatasetsdidn’tmakeitmuchharderforresearcherstoidentifyevencompletelyanonymousaccounts. Polar Flowrevealedlocationsofspiesandmilitaryworkers PolarFlowisanappthattrackstheactivitydataofmillionsofusers,whousethepublicactivitytrackingrecordstoposttheirworkoutsontheExploremapfeature.Evenwhensettoprivate,auser’sfitnessactivitycaneasilytrackwheretheylive. ZDNetreportedthatPolarFlow’sdeveloperAPIcouldbeimproperlyqueriedtosurfaceworkoutrouteactivity,whichisexactlywhatDutchinvestigatorsfound.Nuclearstoragestaff,intelligenceagentsandmissilesiloguardswereallspottedviathebugduringthein-depthexamination.Theapp’sparentcompany,Polar,hassincetakenthemapoffline. ThisincidentissimilartotheStravaappproblemfromearlierthisyear.Manyaresayingthatincreaseddigitaltrailsmeanespionageisbecomingmorefraughtthaneverbefore. UgandaclampsdownonVPNs TheinternethasbecomealotmorerestrictedinUganda,asthecountry’scommunicationsauthorityhasorderedtelecomsfirmstotaxorblockvirtualprivatenetworks(VPNs).PeopleareincreasinglyrelyingontheVPNstoavoidpayingnewtaxesonsocialmediathatwereenforcedinanefforttocurb“gossip”. Thetaxhasbeenslammedbyhumanrightsgroupsasadraconianefforttoremovetherighttofreedomofexpressioninthecountry. CryptocurrencyfansusingMacsareatargetfornewmalware PeoplewhoenjoychattingaboutallthingscryptocurrencyonSlackorDiscordchannelsarebeingtargetedbyamalwarestraindubbed‘OSX.Dummy’,accordingtoDarkReading. Thesocialengineeringattacksendsafalserequestfromsomeonepretendingtobeagroupadmin,askingthenaivevictimtorunalongcommandinaterminalwindowandignoreafilebeingdownloadedtotheirmachine.Oncethisisdone,ahackerintheNetherlandshassuccessfullyhijackedtheirMac. SecurityresearcherRyanBensonexplainedthatmanypeoplehavejumpedonthedigitalcurrencybandwagonwhomaynothavethetechnologysavvynecessarytosenseaprettysimpleattacksuchasthis. Twitterapponmobile.Image:InGreen/Shutterstock Tweet Share Email Share Telegram More PinThis Reddit Related: infosec,privacy,cryptocurrency,EnterpriseDigest,Twitter,personalsecurity EllenTannamwasajournalistwithSiliconRepublic,coveringallmannerofbusinessandtechsubjects [email protected] YouMayAlsoLike YouMayAlsoLike Business HowthetechsectorisrespondingtoRussia’sinvasionofUkraine 28Feb2022 Enterprise Pegasusspyware:Defendingdemocracyandtheruleoflaw 17Mar2022 Enterprise HubSpothackleadstomultipleWeb3andcryptocompanydatabreaches 5daysago Enterprise DPCsuedfor‘failuretoact’oncomplaintmadeagainstGoogle 15Mar2022 Enterprise SpotifyandDiscordoutagesraiseconcernsaroundpubliccloudservices 9Mar2022 Enterprise TwitterlaunchesTorserviceamidRussiansocialmediacensorship 9Mar2022 LatestNews Openingupnewdoors:InsideIreland’sregionalco-workinghubs 2daysago BlackBerryVP:Thesoftwaresupplychainisbecomingmoretransparent 2daysago EUandUSagree‘inprinciple’onsharingdataacrosstheAtlantic 2daysago Ireland’sfirstinclusiveremoteworkinghubopensinCork 2daysago ITGC:AnewcommunitytobringIrishtechgeneralcounseltothenextlevel 2daysago Newsubseafibre-opticcabletoconnectIrelandandNordics 2daysago xWaveandCeADARteamuptoimprovepatienttestingusingAI 2daysago TheCongericeshelfhascollapsedinAntarcticaamidrecordtemperatures 2daysago EUDigitalMarketsAct:BigchangesonthewayforBigTech 2daysago 10moreyearsoffreemobileroamingintheEU 2daysago Janssentocreate180newjobswith€150mexpansionatRingaskiddy 2daysago TeensintheUKarrestedinrelationtoLapsus$cybercrimegang 3daysago Haveyouevergonebacktoworkforaformeremployer? 3daysago PoolbegPharmabagsdealwithAIfirmtofindinfluenzatreatments 3daysago Ireland’sfirstCovid-19treatmenttrialrevealspotentialofAAT 3daysago MotorolaSolutionsacquires100pcstakeincommsproviderTetraIreland 3daysago InternetpaystributetoStephenWilhite,inventoroftheGIF 3daysago InstagramandFacebooksufferanoutageasusersreportissues 3daysago MainstreamRenewablePowernets€575minvestmentfromMitsui 3daysago DCUspin-outPilotPhotonicsscores€1.8minvestment 3daysago GoogleNewsbannedinRussiafor‘unreliable’content 3daysago Ireland’sdigitaldividegrewduringthepandemic,saysAccenture 3daysago MicrosoftisbringingitscybersecurityskillsprogrammetoIreland 3daysago ‘Entrepreneurshavetopushpastinevitablefailureandlearnfrommistakes’ 3daysago MorefromTechnology LatestNews More More