Tory MP has Twitter, Facebook account hacked

Social networking users were warned of the perils of not protecting their accounts properly yesterday as news emerged that Tory MP Therese Coffey's Facebook and Twitter accounts had been hacked.

Tory blog London Spin revealed the Conservative MP for Suffolk Coastal also had her blog hacked - presumably all three accounts shared the same log-in credentials - with attackers posting "sexually explicit messages and comments".

On Wednesday evening Coffey wrote on her blog "My account has been hacked - am trying to rectify the problem now". In a tweet later she wrote: "I have the email of the person who has hacked in, so hopefully I can do something about it."

It remains to be seen how the attacker managed to hack into Coffey's account, although it's a timely reminder, especially for those with official Twitter accounts, to keep a close eye on account activity, and ensure passwords for different accounts are kept separate.

It seems even those with Verified Twitter accounts are not guaranteed a secure account, with Britney Spears falling victim late last year.