Reaction: “How I lost my $50k Twitter ID: A cautionary tale”

I happened upon this post by Naoki Hiroshima over at The Next Web today and it did hit home, especially because I am a Google Apps user, just like Naoki.
The quick summary is this: A rather smart individual wanted his @n Twitter account. Rather unique I’m sure you’ll agree. In order to get it, the hacker made a serious of smaller social engineering hacks at Naoki’s domain registrar and payments provider. Shocking. But incredibly, incredibly effective.

I had a rare Twitter username, @N. Yep, just one letter. I’ve been offered as much as $50,000 for it. People have tried to steal it. Password reset instructions are a regular sight in my email inbox.
As of today, I no longer control @N. I was extorted into giving it up.

It’s prompted me to address how I’m handling a lot of my activities online. Not that anyone will be after my @ew4n Twitter account. I had to stick in the ‘4’ because that lucky chap Ewan Spence got there before me!
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