Is your Twitter Account Compromised? How to Fix it?

Today social media is becoming second nature for the Millenials all around the globe. People simply can not do without checking the notifications right from the morning till night. Social media is a good way of creating connections and staying in touch with dear ones. However, like any other technological stuff, it is prone to misuse. There is not a day when we do not read of scams, hacking, bullying, threatening incidents happening over social media platforms.

Indications that Signify Twitter Account has been Compromised

How does a person get to know that his Twitter has been maliciously taken over by someone else? Here are a few pointers that should trigger your sixth sense. Check it out.

Following, unfollowing or blocking anyone on Twitter that you never did
Some messages sent from your profile, which you did not remember doing
A notification regarding the change in your account information
You are not being able to login whereas one day before you could log in easily.

If you have recently faced any such issue, then make sure to follow the next section to know how to deal with such a situation. This guide is for everyone but mostly aiming towards those who are not that social media savvy. If you are reading this and you belong in the latter group, then follow the guide carefully.

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How to Fix A Compromised Twitter Account

Let’s dive into the guide.

Changing Password

The first and foremost thing is having a new password, that will secure and authentic your access to your profile. In case you are not able to log in, then on the login page itself, you should see on option Forgot Password.

Click on Forgot Password
Then you will move to the next screen where you have to enter your Email ID under which your Twitter is registered.
Then you will get two options. Either get a code via SMS to the phone number linked with your account or receive a link to the email inbox directly. Select your choice.

Note

Make sure you have updated your phone number and have the access to your Email inbox otherwise you won’t receive code or link for the password recovery. You can still click I don’t have access to any of these to get further help. That would include trying to recover the password by making use of your username. We have discussed the same below as well. Check it out.
Then using the code or the link you have to reset a new password.
Make sure to use a strong password that consists of the random alphabet, numeric and special characters. Never use any commonly used name, your own name, nickname, or such things that can be guessed easily by a little bit of social engineering.
After resetting the password you will be redirected to the login page again.
Login this time with the new password and email ID. This should solve your issue.

Important

The password must be of 10 characters minimum.
Also, do not share your password with anyone else at all.
If possible keep changing your password frequently like once in three months maybe.
Never ever use the same password for every social media or email account. It will be a disaster if the hacker is a pro at his end he will hack into every account.
Always store your password in a safe place where it will not be accessible easily to anyone except you.
Do not use simple phrases or easy sequence of numbers such as abcd or 1234 in the password.

What if You Lost Access to your Mail ID or Phone Number.?

In case you are one of those users that cannot access the phone number or mail ID, then click on “I don’t have access to any of these” option.
Find your Twitter Account

You will have to enter your username (in case you remember it. usually usernames are quirky to remember). If your profile exists and no change had been made to it by a hacker or anyone who got access over it, then you should see this message.

However, you will be again redirected to the same above mentioned steps. So, you can see here that having an updated phone number or email access is important to use as a backup when your Twitter account gets compromised.

So, next, you have to click Still Need Help option you see at the bottom of the image above. You will end up on a screen that will ask your current email which you can access along with a description of your technical issue.

You will also have to perform a CAPTCHA challenge to prove that you are not a bot who is trying to access an account illegally.

Revoke Access Control to Dubious Third-Party Apps

Third-party apps can always pose a threat in case they are from unknown sources. So, the best option is to revoke access to these apps from your Twitter profile. This will help you stay safe from anyone trying to access your profile or maliciously make changes in its settings.

This process is only possible when you can still log in to your profile. We will show you how to do it.

Make sure you’re logged into your Twitter > Click on your profile pic
Then tap on your Settings & Privacy > Account
Under Account tap on Apps and Sessions.
Now you can see the list of connected 3rd party Apps (no screenshots here as Twitter doesn’t allow screenshots for their connected 3rd party apps)
Tap on the app you doubt is causing you the login or any kind of trouble.
Used should see an option Revoke Access in red color. Tap on it.
Recheck in the Apps and Sessions list. That app should now be removed.

Sometimes due to bug in third-party apps issues regarding login and other glitches may arise. If you are not sure of the technical details, it is a better idea to revoke the access of the app you are suspicious about using the above technique.

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Another safe and effective method is to make use of the 2-factor authentication to log in to your Twitter account. With this process, you can log in using your password and a unique key that you have to enter each time you log in. This will be a unique key that will be generated newly every time you begin the process of login.

I will tell you how to set 2-factor authentication on Twitter from your Android device. The process will be pretty much the same if you do it from the web version of Twitter.

Log in to your Twitter Profile > Tap on Profile Pic > Go to Settings & privacy
Now under that go to Account > tap on Security
In the next screen tap on Two-Factor Authentication
Next select how would you wish to get the unique code. Is it via Text message, via an Authentication Code Generator app? For the web version, you may have an option for a security key.?
From the above, I suggest using the authenticator app from Google. I will explain how the system works.
Then on the next screen, you will get an instruction to link your authenticator app to the twitter account.
Tap on Link App Now.
Then a key will be generated with a dialog box Save key For your Twitter. Tap on OK.
Then every 1 minute the Authenticator app will generate a new 6-digit code.
Whenever you try to login to your system, along with the password, you also will be asked for the code.
Simply go to Authenticator App and see what code it displays for that 1-minute slot.
Simply put that code in the Twitter Verification.
You will now log in successfully. Enjoy.

Why Use Authenticator App

I suggest using a reputed authenticator app instead of text messaging because of security reasons. There are chances that someone may be sniffing packet or via malware or any such unscrupulous way and may know the code when you receive it in text message form.

However, with the app, you have sole control over the code as only you will see it. The code will generate only on the device where the authenticator is installed through the owner’s Gmail ID. It even renews every 30 seconds/1 minutes. So, it is a better option for logging in.

Keep your PC/Android Device Secure

This is pretty straight forward. Make sure to constantly keep your PC updated with the latest security patches. So, there will be no lacunae in the security aspects. Having a good anti-virus will protect your PC from anyone who may try to get unauthorized access to your PC and later to your applications. This also ensures protection against malware and other harmful software that may work in the background ad try to gain access to your PC.

The same we can say for your Android devices as well. Also, make sure to keep the applications and the device updated. Always install apps from trusted sources like Play Store. Never miss out on system updates that fix up bugs and constantly improve device performance and other aspects including security.

So, that was detailed information on what may go wrong with your Twitter account and how you can fix it. Go through the guides and the steps carefully. We hope that you found it informative. Do check out our other guides on various aspects of social media handling.

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