Politicians and others who blame their indiscretions on hackers may not like Twitter’s latest technological development. The microblogging platform is rolling out automatic encryption on its website, an enhancement that will make personal accounts significantly more difficult to compromise.
Twitter users have had the option to use SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encryption but now is beginning to turn it on by default. Some users are already seeing its characteristic “https” in their browser address bar, and some also see a small padlock in the corner.
By default, Google already uses SSL for its Gmail product. Facebook offers it as an option under Account Settings. It may slow things down very slightly, but not enough for most people to notice in these types of applications.
Photo by flickr user dingopup, used under Creative Commons license
