Security Alert: Twitter Porn Names Scam

The “Twitter porn names” game, currently Twitter‘s top-trending topic (things that are twittered the most), may be a fun distraction that gives you and your friends something to tweet about. But it also has a security hole — one that is no technical snafu. It could be simple human error, but it’s also possible that this security hole is an example of truly sneaky social engineering.

The porn names game has a few variations, but the information that all of the versions elicit is the same. To find your “porn name” you are asked to take the name of your first pet, and combine it with the street you grew up on or your mother’s maiden name. Silly, sure. But look more closely: All of these are common security questions. By playing the game, you could be revealing private information that Web scoundrels could potentially use to access your online accounts and bank information.

Be wary of this and similar games that might entice you to reveal potential answers to your security questions. Be sure to pass along the information to your friends if they have unwittingly provided answers to their security questions.

If you have publicly revealed answers to your online security questions, you should delete the post, change your passwords, and update your security questions.