Twitter attacks snare senior politicians

The Secretary for Energy and Climate Change, Ed Miliband, and Dunfermline and West Fife MP Willie Rennie are among the large number of Twitter users that have been snared by the latest Twitter phishing attack.

The two politicians sent their followers corrupt links, along with a message that reads:

"Hhey, i've been having better sex and longer with this here."

Miliband was quick to respond to the scam earlier today. "Oh dear it seems like I've fallen victim to twitter's latest 'phishing' scam," he tweeted.

He then used the publicity to his advantage. "Now I've got your attention - I want your ideas for the manifesto," he wrote.

According to STV News, Rennie's Twitter account was linked to all his social networking accounts and so the message was sent to thousands of his followers.

Rennie told the broadcaster that he assumed most of his followers would know the link is a scam and not a genuine tweet. Unlike Miliband, he has chosen not to post any Tweets about the scam in his feed.

Graham Cluley from security firm Sophos warned that unless Miliband has "a strong and different password for every web site" he uses, he may have allowed hackers to access other more sensitive accounts. "Basically, his entire online life could be handed over to hackers," he wrote.

The news of the phishing scam comes as the Lord Chancellor is reportedly investigating fake Twitter accounts that have been set up for all of the Merseyside and NorthWest MPs.