First, I want to apologize to anyone who follows me on Twitter if they received any inappropriate messages from my account.
This message is cross-posted in its entirety from my new primary blog site, just to make sure everyone potentially impacted gets the message.
My Twitter Account is Currently Suspended
I got home from a road-trip yesterday, and found that my Twitter account had been suspended "for suspicious activity". While I have opened a support call with Twitter, I still do not know exactly what kind of activity triggered the suspension. I can only assume that my account was somehow hacked, and was sending inappropriate messages.
If you were the recipient of such a message, again I want to extend a heartfelt apology. Please understand that there are certain things I would never, ever do, and I am horrified to think that someone else may have been doing them under my name.
A Teachable Moment – Life Goes On
I've been in this industry for years, and I know all about the things that can lead to accounts being hacked. I take a wide array of precautions, from firewalls, to antivirus and antispyware software, to complex passwords, to not opening unsolicited email attachments. I keep my patches up to date. I don't run "unknown" applications, and I don't do torrents or other methods of illegally sharing files.
Yet I'm also aware that even with the best practices, the only sure way of avoiding problems is to never create an online account, or even turn your machine on at all. Since that is not an option, we must all accept the fact that there will always be some risk.
Now you know as much about the situation as I do. I'll keep you up to date on what I find out. If there were any other steps I could have taken to prevent it, I'll be sure to share those, too, so you can avoid the same problem.
Thank you for your understanding, and I hope to be back on Twitter soon
woodyw