Twitter to improve security by default

In a bid to protect its users from having their accounts hacked into, micro-blogging service Twitter is starting to roll out a new feature where a secure hypertext transfer protocol (HTTPS) is turned on by default. But Twitter strongly suggested that all its users use HTTPS (instead of the default HTTP) for improved security, which they can do for now by adjusting the settings in their Account Preferences. “We suggest using HTTPS for improved security. We’re starting to turn this on by default for some users," it said in a tweet. The tweet contained a link to a guide on how to enable https on a Twitter user’s account. Enabling “Always use https will tell the browser to use SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encryption any time a user accesses twitter.com. “This improves the security of your account and better protects you from eavesdropping if you’re using Twitter over an unsecured Internet connection, such as a public WiFi network," it said. For now, Twitter said it is “currently experimenting" with the https by default feature. “We are currently experimenting with turning https on for a small percentage of users. If you are not using HTTPS and would like to, please visit your Settings page to enable HTTPS," it said. Twitter also said it is finding ways to make the blogging service faster using https, since some users find Twitter over https slower than over http. It admitted this is especially true for Twitter users stuck with a slow Internet connection. Also, it said it is addressing issues where opening the details pane to view an image or video will cause a browser warning about mixed content if using https. On the other hand, Twitter said HTTPS is already the default in its official Twitter for iPhone and iPad applications, “regardless of whether you have checked Always use HTTPS." But it said that when visiting mobile.twitter.com from a browser, communications will be encrypted only if one specifically logs in via https://mobile.twitter.com/. “We’re working on sharing the https checkbox between twitter.com and mobile.twitter.com," it said. — LBG/TJD, GMA News