Twitter Patches Security Hole, Introduces Two Cool New Features To #NewTwitter
Twitter was taken by storm earlier today due to a cross-site scripting vulnerability, exploits of which spread like wildfire on the micro-sharing network. The company issued a statement a short while ago …
Context & Ripple Effects
Twitter’s September 2010 incident follows a documented run of security problems: a March 2009 warning of a serious viral-attack risk, reports of worms and scams, and an exploit reported as still working in August 2009. The recurrence makes the patch more than routine maintenance: it tests whether Twitter can keep a fast-spreading network safe as it changes the product experience.
The XSS exploit drew same-day confirmation from Twitter’s status channel and coverage from Sophos, underscoring that the exposure was broad enough to demand a public response. The accompanying #NewTwitter additions place security remediation alongside an active interface rollout.
First-order effects
- Twitter closes the identified XSS path, ending the specific mechanism being used to spread exploits across its network.
- Twitter’s #NewTwitter rollout continues with two added features, though the supplied coverage does not identify what those features do.
Second-order effects
- Repeated reports of Twitter exploits shift pressure onto Twitter’s product and engineering teams to make security testing part of interface changes, rather than treating it as a separate cleanup task.
- Users and third-party developers have a stronger incentive to treat unexpected Twitter interactions cautiously after a flaw could propagate through the service’s social graph.
Third-order effects
- If recurring exploit reports persist, large social platforms will increasingly compete on the ability to ship product changes without opening viral abuse paths—making application security an operational constraint on product velocity.
The trend: Social-network product rollouts are becoming inseparable from defenses against flaws that can spread through user interactions at network speed.