Twitter down after rolling out new HTTPS security feature

On Wednesday, Twitter unveiled a new security option, HTTPS, to help foil hackers looking to disrupt accounts using unsecured WiFi connections.

In the aftermath of the roll-out, twitter.com has experienced elevated load issues, and informed users that: "You may experience some problems loading twitter.com and with Twitter clients. We are aware of the problem and are taking action." Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) provides encrypted security for web connections, and are predominantly used for e-commerce, banking and high-security transactions.

The option of “Always use HTTPS can be selected by account holders, and the company aims to make it the default setting in the near future. More from Twitter official blog: "To turn on HTTPS, go to your settings and check the box next to (Always use HTTPS,) which is at the bottom of the page. This will improve the security of your account and better protect your information if you are using Twitter over an unsecured Internet connection, like a public WiFi network, where someone may be able to eavesdrop on your site activity. In the future, we hope to make HTTPS the default setting."

Facebook has also been experimenting with HTTPS in recent months, and in January offered it to users as an option on its advanced security setting.