Twitter ‘Mouseover’ Bug Sends Users to Porn Sites Without Their Consent

It’s one thing to seek out pornographic websites of one’s own volition. It’s another thing entirely to be directed to one without your consent while you’re just trying to find the right soupçon of self-deprecation to add to a 140-character tweet. Mashable reports that thousands of Twitter accounts are exploiting a newly discovered flaw in Twitter’s security system that enables spammers to redirect users to third-party websites even if all they do is scroll their mouse over the link. The “mouseover” bug can be abused to launch pop-up windows or redirect users to other websites, in some cases pornographic ones. Some spammers are using blocks of color to cover the true intention of the tweet. Twitter has yet to respond, so for now, the best way to avoid it is accessing Twitter through third-party apps like TweetDeck.

Twitter Mouseover Security Flaw Affecting Thousands of Users [Mashable]

Twitter ‘Mouseover’ Bug Sends Users to Porn Sites Without Their Consent