Phantom polls post puts ANC in Twitter twist

11 April 2016 - 02:25 By Katharine Child

The ANC had to change its Twitter handle after the party said it was hacked on Saturday. The post, which read: "If you don't support Cde Jacob Zuma, we do not want your votes! #Elections2016", was quickly deleted after it appeared on Twitter.The tweet follows growing calls for President Jacob Zuma to resign by many ANC stalwarts.The Constitutional Court recently found Zuma breached the constitution by not heeding the public protector's findings on his Nkandla home upgrades.The ruling party denied it was an insider with access to the account who tweeted the message. The ANC claims to have been hacked before.Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula, who is a prolific tweeter, claimed his account was hacked in January after pictures of a naked woman appeared. A few hours after the raunchy picture was uploaded, he tweeted: "NB MY TWITTER ACCOUNT WAS HACKED THEY WILL NEVER SUCCEED.Politicians around the world have also fallen victim to hacks.In January Britain's Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn also had his Twitter account hacked.His tweets read "davey cameron is a pie", referring to Prime Minister David Cameron.Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka's Twitter account was hacked in December and offensive anti-refugee messages were posted in Czech and English.One read: "Refugees are an invasion army! The few women among them are nothing but the mothers of future terrorists. Guillotine all who help them!" Arthur Goldstuck, of World Wide Worx, said: "Whether you are the president or Joe Soap, you have to follow safe password practices."The key rules are don't have a simple password or a guessable password."Goldstuck said: "For organisations there have to be protocols on who has access to the password and the password may need to be regularly changed."He warned of clicking on dodgy links that could compromise account security."In social media one is often invited to click on a link that says something like, 'look what people are saying about you'."In reality, the link hides a request to access your account."..

There’s never been a more important time to support independent media.

From World War 1 to present-day cosmopolitan South Africa and beyond, the Sunday Times has been a pillar in covering the stories that matter to you.

For just R80 you can become a premium member (digital access) and support a publication that has played an important political and social role in South Africa for over a century of Sundays. You can cancel anytime.

Already subscribed? Sign in below.



Questions or problems? Email helpdesk@timeslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00.