This week I was the lucky winner of a sustained attempt to try and hijack my Twitter account. I made the very silly mistake of giving my Twitter account details to a website that had been hacked. Something about the site made me suspicious and so I changed my Twitter password about 30 seconds later. Lucky I did...

About 5 mins after being caught by the site someone was trying to get into my account. And they've been trying ever since for about a week now. I know because every time I go to log in I get a notice that my account has been locked due to failed login attempts. I did manage to get in once, and so I changed my username. Since then the problem has gone away. My guess is that my details were posted on a hacking site somewhere for all to use. A single attacker would have given up a long time ago.

Bottom line, be careful when giving out your Twitter details - unfortunately you have to from time to time. Check out the requesting site thoroughly before doing so. Look for suspicious activity, and maybe even give the site incorrect details first to see what happens. Create a completely separate password for your Twitter account, and make it a tough one. Also, try and use sites that utilize the application link function to Twitter, instead of those that actually ask for your account details. Unfortunately this is not always possible.

Change your password regularly - you can always update it at the websites you continue to use. Some of the largest accounts in the world have been hacked - including Barack Obama's and the New York Times – so everyone is a target.