Twitter buys Android security firm Whisper Systems

Twitter has acquired an Android security firm, but exactly what the social-networking company wants to do with it is currently unknown.
Whisper Systems announced on its blog today that it will become part of Twitter. Although the company didn't disclose an acquisition price, it did say that it will bring its "technology and our expertise into Twitter's products and services."
Whisper offers a range of security products--currently all in beta--that focus on safeguarding device data, network connections, backups, and calls. Considering that, it's quite possible Twitter will try to improve the security of its mobile apps with Whisper's technology.

That said, don't expect to see Whisper's apps, including TextSecure and RedPhone, to be available for a while. Whisper said that as part of its transition to Twitter, it will be forced to take its services down until the social network decides to put them back up. However, they will all be making a comeback.
For its part, Twitter hasn't publicly commented on the Whisper acquisition and has not immediately responded to CNET's request for comment.
Twitter has been on a tear as of late, acquiring a host of companies across several different markets. Last December, Twitter "acquired" personnel from Q&A startup Fluther and followed that up in May with the purchase of TweetDeck. In August, Twitter acquired Bagcheck, a small gear-sharing startup.

It takes a community to translate Twitter

Twitter celebrated its first non-English launch in April 2008 with the release of Twitter in Japanese. In November 2009, Twitter launched it’s second and third languages: Spanish and French. And, with today’s launch of Dutch and Indonesian, Twitter has been fully translated into eleven languages.

Dutch and Indonesian were the first languages to be fully translated by community volunteers using our Translation Center that opened earlier in the year. Volunteers translate twitter.com, support pages, desktop and mobile applications — everything except the Tweets. Then, a select group of the most active translators work closely with the team at Twitter to maintain localized versions of the service.

Thanks to the active and growing Twitter community (200,000 translators and counting), the launch of today’s two languages is our fastest to date. From the first calls for community involvement to today’s launch, the localization process for Dutch and Indonesian took just one month. We will be using this new process to translate Twitter into many more languages soon. Next up: Filipino and Malay. If you speak one of these (or other) languages, visit our Translation Center to contribute to Twitter’s localization efforts.

Keeping your account safe

We are often asked the question, "How do I keep my Twitter account safe and private?" Good question, and we’re happy you asked.

First, you should know that attempts to directly “hack" Twitter are extremely rare. The majority of account compromises actually happen as a direct result of "phishing" schemes. Phishing is a way to target users by sending them fraudulent messages meant to trick them into sharing their passwords. This can come in the form of fake emails, attachments or log-in screens that are designed to look similar to your Twitter sign-in page.

You should know that Twitter never sends emails that request your password or asks you to download attachments. Similarly, you will never have to enter your Twitter password into anything other than a Twitter log-in screen on the web and applications that you trust. You can always make sure that you’re on the real Twitter site by checking the address bar in your browser--make sure the domain is Twitter.com. There is lot more about protecting yourself from phishing attempts on our support pages.

Here are some additional important recommendations from our Safety Center:

• Use a strong password with at least 10 characters and a combination of letters, numbers and other characters for your Twitter account. And use a unique password for each website you use (email, banking, etc.); that way, if one account gets compromised, the rest are safe. A personal email account that’s compromised is the second most likely way an intruder gains access to Twitter accounts.
• Use HTTPS for improved security on Twitter. This is the same encryption technology that allows you to safely make payments online. Learn how to do this here.
• We recommend linking your phone to your Twitter account. Doing this could save your account if you lose control of your personal email and/or password. Here’s how to do it.
• If you think your account has been compromised, visit our help page for compromised accounts to find out how to fix it quickly.

We’re committed to keeping Twitter a safe and open community and educating you, our users, about the best ways to keep your accounts secure. We post regular updates about safety and security via @safety and regularly update our account security help page. For individuals and organizations using Twitter in an official capacity, Twitter for Newsrooms has been updated with an excellent safety and security checklist, located here.