Twitter enables "always on" secure connections

With security of our social networks an ever growing concern, being able to connect to these sites securely has become increasingly important to some networks. Twitter is the latest to offer this feature, introducing an "always on" HTTPS connection within the site's settings.

Previously users would access the SSL connection by surfing to the URL directly from the web browser. By checking the "Always use HTTPS" box in settings, Twitter would always connect in this manner.

SSL is already used by default by Twitter's login process, and by the official iPhone and iPad apps from the social neworking service.

"This will improve the security of your account and better protect your information if you're using Twitter over an unsecured Internet connection, like a public WiFi network, where someone may be able to eavesdrop on your site activity," spokesperson Carolyn Penner wrote on the Twitter blog Tuesday.

Penner said that mobile users using the mobile site alone would still need to visit https://mobile.twitter.com to connect securely, although the company hoped to make HTTPS the default setting for everyone in the near future.

Twitter's move follows a similar one by Facebook, which enabled SSL access in late January. Like Twitter, enabling an always on secure connection would need to be done through the site's account security settings.