The history and growth of Twitter

We hope you continue to enjoy our #TechTuesday quiz questions that we post on our social media channels. If you haven’t already seen them, scroll down to the banner at the end of this page and follow us so you can be part of the fun! This post is dedicated to one of the #TechTuesday questions we asked a while ago: what did Jack Dorsey set up in 2006? The answer was Twitter. Jack Dorsey sent out the first tweet in March 2006.

Launching in 2006, Twttr (later called Twitter) allowed users to communicate through short message snippets. Evolving into a micro blogging service, the popularity of Twitter exploded as it gained its place as one of the world’s leading social media platforms (history.com, 2019). The name of the platform was designed to mimic the sound of birds with other possible names, such as FriendStalker, being rejected (history.com, 2019). Over time, the character count limit of Twitter has been increased from 140 to 280 characters, enabling users more flexibility for their messaging. Did you know that, on average, 6,000 tweets are sent to the server every second (dsayce, 2020)? Imagine the computing power required for that!

Twitter server security measures

Like other social media giants, it’s important for Twitter to have sufficient security in place. A Twitter security employee mentioned that certain accounts are even protected on a separate server, such as accounts for world leaders (wired.com, 2020). Although any hack can be devastating for the personal data breached or lost, the consequences for world leaders could be dire, especially since they are already in the media spotlight. This follows a major Twitter hack on July 15^th 2020, where hackers phoned up phishing for information, managing to gain access to several accounts to post fake Bitcoin posts. This was clearly stressful for the users involved with potential reputational damage.

Modern sophistication of hackers and importance of IT security

As the above incident highlights, hacking doesn’t just vanish. Security measures may be getting more sophisticated, but so are attacks on various companies. It’s important to always be prepared for the worst and to continually review and upgrade all physical and cyber security measures.

Social media security: a global need

Social media platforms are packed full of sensitive customer data. Some individuals share too much on their social media and don’t have adequate security settings in place, leading to opportunists using data for their own purposes. Imagine how easy it is for a thief to lurk on your social media, waiting for you to declare your next holiday, so they know exactly when to target your potentially empty home. This is why social media giants need to create their platforms as secure as possible, ensuring servers have the best physical and cyber security measures in place. Social media breaches result in potential for global crises and devastation of data.

Cross-Guard’s IT security solutions

Sophisticated attacks are happening across the world, causing tech companies to suffer as servers are breached. This means companies need not just the best cyber security, but also the best physical security such as caging, to ensure highest levels of server protection. Cross-Guard has been serving the data centre industry for over 20 years with high-quality security products and a team of expert installers. For help with your next project, you can get in touch by calling +44 (0)20 8108 9328 or emailing sales@cross-guard.com.