Should frequent Twitter users be concerned about the level of security the site offers, since mobile and PC data encryption seems to be non-existent at board level?

The poor authentication and access controls to enter email using PC and mobile Web interfaces are the biggest challenges when it comes to securing one's information sent via Twitter. Data being held in files or in Web mail on mobile devices or PCs is an easy target if it is not encrypted.

"Sensitive mobile data should be encrypted," said Andy Cordial, managing director of Origin Storage, a storage systems integration specialist. "Maybe he should look to encrypt his mobile data that is deemed sensitive."

According to Mr. Cordial, this latest Twitter hack appears to be the result of the password of a company cofounder being guessable on the GoogleApps service, which then allowed the hacker access to his personal information, including sensitive details from his wife's computer.

Apparently this is a common problem in IT departments, but one that can be solved by applying a sizeable slice of common sense and adding a selection of encryption technologies, plus ever-changing-passord policies to the mix, Mr. Cordial said.

Adding encryption to a company's data storage -- whether in the cloud or not -- will ensure that mobile and PC Web data is protected from prying eyes.

"One obvious challenge is how we can prevent people from being ignorant and coming up with obvious passwords and answers to security questions," said Michael Foschetti, managing director of Mobisix, Charlotte, VA.

"This type of laziness allows hackers to intrude on, not just your accounts, but your friends' and coworkers' as well," he said. "Another challenge is figuring out how to make retrieving forgotten passwords more confidential and secure."

Mr. Cordial agreed with Mr. Foschetti.

"Password strength and data encryption needs to be improved and proper systems put into place especially with portable devices which can be easily lost," he said.

The executives agreed that Twitter as an organization has to implement a tighter and more secure data encryption system that offers a higher level of data security and encourages users to introduce stronger password protection.

Strength of authentication, which is invariable password-based security, comes from unique complex passwords using at least 12 upper- and lower-case characters numbers and symbols and top level encryption.

Per Mr. Foschetti, the biggest security issues continue to be human error, forgetfulness and the need for repetition.

Most users are guilty of using the same password for every account they have.

All hackers have to do is figure out the password for one account, and then they may access all of that user's accounts.

"How many people have the same password for both their Facebook account and their online bank account," Mr. Foschetti said. "If someone has the time, and nowadays a lot of people do, they can learn a lot with little effort.

"For example, a hacker could view a Facebook user's profile and instantly learn things about the person, and could then test different passwords using what they've learned, or use the security question option to figure out the password and then, once they know it, try it out on more important sites," he said.

Reporting by Jordan Crook