Lunchtime Links: Twitter Password Resets Raise Security Fears

The peril of using a service you don’t control is that sometimes, it screws something up, and you’re stuck cleaning up the mess.

That and more in today’s Lunchtime Links:

Twitter’s mass reset: Throughout the morning, thousands of Twitter users claimed they were being asked to reset their passwords via email, leading to concerns of a major security breach. (In particular, TechCrunch’s Twitter account was hacked  (opens in a new tab).) The company was initially quiet but now admits that the number of password resets was largely an accident  (opens in a new tab): “In this case, we unintentionally reset passwords of a larger number of accounts, beyond those that we believed to have been compromised. We apologize for any inconvenience or confusion this may have caused,” the company said on its status page.

Give ’em something to believe in: The Metal Treating Institute’s Tom Morrison, in his latest blog post  (opens in a new tab), offers tips on how to build believers in your organization. A key factor? Trust. “People want to know they can trust you in all your efforts and activities … especially when they are giving you money,” he explains. “A lot of associations suffer because their members don’t really trust their activities … especially the ‘good old boy network’ syndrome. Trust is built when the association’s actions match up with their words, and those actions and words are deemed highly valuable assets to their development or success.”

Build an effective LinkedIn profile: Trying to move up in the world? Northwestern University’s Roxanne Hori, guest-blogging for Bloomberg Businessweek  (opens in a new tab), cites the value of having a well-groomed LinkedIn profile that is informative and effective. “Your online persona should provide the reader with a picture of who you are, which is especially true if you’re looking for a job in a specific field—sports marketing, entertainment, or private equity, for example. From there, you’ve opened a door to meeting people who just may be critical to your success in securing a job.” How does yours do on this mark?

BlackBerry’s trump card: While Research In Motion’s BlackBerry could be in danger of losing its biggest strength (opens in a new tab) with the Defense Department, it has something its competitors don’t — federal approval  (opens in a new tab). The company’s forthcoming BlackBerry 10 devices were given the Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2 certification, which means that the devices meet standards for data encryption. Now, whether or not this keeps the company in the government’s good graces, it’ll ensure that the federal government will keep at least some of them around.

Think the BlackBerry has a chance of sticking around? Let us know in the comments.

(Logo by Twitter)