Town of Olds mayor Judy Dahl suspended her Twitter account on Jan. 20, after a hacker took control of it to send spam emails containing unsafe links to all her followers.
"I received about 50 calls from concerned citizens on Friday, with regards with some comments that were made on my Twitter account. I thank the community for that,î she said.
The mayor believes that an anonymous hacker group targeted her.
"They really like to target politicians, business people, and any type of person that needs to make a decision,î she said.
"If the decision is not made the way they like it, or if they just feel that it is time to play some games, they will hack accounts.î
Dahl, who had been tweeting since 2009, had more than 1,250 tweets and 240 followers before the suspension of her account.
"I used Twitter as a tool for community. I followed Uptowne Olds, I followed all the local businesses, she said.
"I have put stuff on there and I got people phoning back, thanking me because by reading my Twitter feed, they had found something to do with their family.î
Dahl admitted being a little bit upset and angry when she discovered that her account had been hacked.
"Then, I thought about it. You know what? What makes me any different than any other person? I think that when you are dealing with social media, it is bound to happen,î she said.
The timing of the event was serendipitous for Dahl, as council had reviewed a social media policy draft the Monday before the attack.
"That is what made me laugh after it was all said and done because, at the end of the day, these are the type of people they target,î she said.
"If you are a decision maker, you will get targeted some day, in the near future.î
While her account is indefinitely suspended, Dahl did not rule out activating it again.
"It is very important to understand that it is a great tool for me as an elected official and mayor to use,î she concluded.
