Celebrities caused 2009 Twitter crime wave
Criminals started targeting Twitter in earnest during a key period in early 2009, and security company Barracuda Labs has worked out why. During the same few weeks a key list of a-list celebrities joined the site.
According to the company's analysis, the 'red carpet' era between November 2008 and April 2009 saw 48 out of the 100 currently most popular Twitter celebs start using the service, including such notables as Ashton Kutcher, Oprah Winfrey, Ashley Tisdale, Miley Cyrus, Paris Hilton and music group Coldplay.
This in turn drove a huge surge in public interest, which spiked from 2 percent growth rates in November to a 21 percent growth rate by April, the service's 'tipping point' month.
