Twitter implementing measures to secure high-profile accounts during US polls

Twitter Inc on September 17 announced additional security measures to keep high-profile accounts on the microblogging platform "safe" and "secure" during the 2020 presidential election. Twitter, which was targeted by a spree of cyberattacks in the recent past, has laid down some security measures for a designated group of high-profile, election-related Twitter accounts in the US. These accounts will be required to use a strong password and Twitter will enable password reset protection for accounts by default.

Read: Twitter Flags Trump's Tweet Yet Again; Attaches Warning Label On Mail-in Voting Post

"Implementing these security measures is a critical preventative step, and you will continue to see us introduce new protections and features to help safeguard accounts on Twitter," said the social media company in its blog on Thursday. 

The designated group of accounts includes the US Executive Branch and Congress, US Governors and Secretaries of State, presidential campaigns, political parties, and candidates with Twitter Election Labels running for US House, US Senate, or Governor, major US news outlets, and political journalists. 

Read: Kanye West Calls The NBA A 'Modern-Day Slave Ship' In Latest Twitter Rant

Security measures

In the coming weeks, Twitter will also implement additional proactive internal security safeguards for these accounts, including, more sophisticated detections and alerts to help the platform and account holders respond more rapidly to suspicious activity. The latest measures will also require increased login defenses to prevent malicious account takeover attempts. It will provide expedited account recovery support to ensure account security issues are resolved quickly. 

Read: Twitter Suspends Account Of Chinese Virologist Who Claimed COVID-19 Was 'man-made'

Recently, at least 130 handles and high-profile accounts including that of former US President Barack Obama, Democratic-nominee Joe Biden, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Kanye West were targetted by Bitcoin scammers. Twitter later clarified that hackers also accessed DMs of these accounts and said that it was embarrassed with the hack. 

Read: Kim Kardashian Continues To Support Kanye West Even After His Recent Twitter Rant: Reports