Yesterday, Twitter matched Facebook’s recent upgrade so that the Twitter system can now allow us to protect ourselves from hijackers looking for easy targets for identity theft while we go about our own internet activities in a public place such as a Starbucks or Panera.   (See my previous post about Facebook.)  

This is a critical update that you really should take advantage of.  Twitter is finally offering you the option to operate securely inside of your profile using the HTTPS encrypted protocol.  That’s the same protocol that protects your credit card information when you are buying something from an online store.

To turn on HTTPS, go to your Twitter settings and check the box next to “Always use HTTPS,” which is at the bottom of the page. This will greatly improve the security of your account and better protect your information if, like me, you are using Twitter over an unsecured Internet connection like you get at a public place like a coffee house, restaurant or other locatoin with a free WiFi network.

If you are using Twitter from your mobile device, there is a glitch for you to work around, but it’s pretty simple.  See the article for full details.

Twitter says they hope to make HTTPS the default setting, which is a great idea.  Go Twitter!

Read the full article on the Twitter Blog.